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Thu, April 12, 2007
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing" U& K8 z( j, d( ^/ X
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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More and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location.
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People who live in downtown business districts in Canada’s largest cities generally pay less per-square foot than people in cities around the world and enjoy shorter daily commutes to work, according to a recent survey done on first-time home buyers by CENTURY 21.
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Calgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. / E8 I( D; N; Y( D+ p* C
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The cost to buy in Calgary’s downtown is even more than settling in Toronto’s core which ranked 16th in the survey with the average cost running $209 per sq. ft. ! i( B" U% F, P
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George Bamber, owner of a Calgary-based Century 21 said it’s a sign of a city maturing and becoming more like Vancouver or Toronto where downtown is a place where people live and work.“You just get more real estate for your money outside of downtown,” he said.
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“To live downtown people pay for it.”
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4 t) C/ V3 _! G# }: h% hA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500.
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9 o" x: S; J# g% gStill Bamber said the interest in downtown living only seems to be getting more popular — a sign Calgary is “getting to be more like a big city.”
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0 `' P5 \3 p, `Part of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said. ! ]& c( h5 K7 t* [
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, [- c; Z, a' xHe said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown. . O7 p; x1 _0 Q4 |
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The survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. / G$ {0 T Q/ A' f# L7 _
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In Calgary, a typical first-time buyer would choose a one-bedroom, one-bath 500-sq. ft. apartment in Mission or Connaught priced at about $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower.
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6 x5 \7 o5 }$ z" e6 m* T* L4 ~1 RWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
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A 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance. , _4 p/ k! @/ e- k
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& U- Q, D; _7 O. v5 U/ n& n& N4 l1 c- St. John’s and Quebec City had the lowest and second-lowest per-square-foot downtown prices of all 31 cities surveyed, at $55 and $93 respectively.— The two lowest per-square-foot prices for international cities were Istanbul, Turkey and Sydney, Australia, at $94 and $105 respectively.
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$ d8 `0 o, Q" d4 e7 d— Vancouver was fourth most expensive at $577 per square foot while Calgary was sixth most expensive at $500 and Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322 — Globally Paris was the most expensive at $1,051 per square foot while London was fifth most expensive at $532 and New York was eighth most expensive at $375 The 10 least expensive downtown housing markets as ranked per-square-foot for first-time buyers are; St. John’s $55 Quebec City $93 Istanbul $94 Halifax $97 Charlottetown $104 Sydney, Australia $105 Bogota $114 Mexico City $119 . o" ?2 a* g v) B, z9 e8 `
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The 10 most expensive downtown housing markets; Paris $1051 Moscow $688 Seol $630 Vancouver $577 London, England $532 Calgary $500 Athens $375 New York City $375 Tokyo, $325 Edmonton $322. |
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