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Thu, April 12, 2007- x. C2 T; C) i% ?
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Calgary ranks sixth as most expensive downtown housing( t( ~# Y5 ~" [! V0 L+ B8 E
UPDATED: 2007-04-12 16:38:42 MST
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- u' ?; P; R) }- lMore and more Calgarians are buying downtown homes but paying top price for the prime location. : t( L0 z+ V5 D6 q- ^* a1 J" G
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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. ; L( F3 `6 n6 H# y
3 g; _0 `' V1 A) i f( oCalgary ranks sixth most expensive of 31 cities surveyed around the world. ; m- r: j4 m. O9 y6 I7 q. M
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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.
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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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% Q& X9 z! d* M; QA condo in southwood for instance would run about $323 a sq. ft while downtown goes for about $500. ; t! J6 p3 d. v" c* j3 V) H' V, t
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/ B/ i% y% s2 m- M! G4 Z& `+ d: NStill 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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6 y5 H2 P( c, }) s: ^# mPart of the attraction is affordability but also people wanting to buy in to a certain lifestyle, Bamber said.
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5 \5 `' d' A6 Q. \“People want to be close to restaurants and bars and don’t want to drive an hour to work,” he said. 8 n) b* T+ W1 f* w) [3 p0 t
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He said 30 % of the housing market is condos - the bulk of which are in downtown.
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The survey showed Vancouver placing fourth most expensive at $577 per sq. ft. while Edmonton was 10th most expensive at $322. 0 d! A0 d6 m0 n8 H$ J2 q( J3 K
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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 $250,000 and a 10-minute drive or 20-minute walk to the downtown business core and the Calgary Tower. # C$ Q/ ^9 _4 }; N S
" w% J! w) a3 U" P9 _; aWhile those looking for life in the suburbs and a better bang for their buck typically see a significant cost savings.
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6 P8 q) L3 |. p0 G9 b& l- h+ IA 650 sq. ft condo in Southwood, Bamber said, recently sold for about $323 per square foot, for instance.
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- 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. 7 r" A" J3 L- Q' D! ?- U
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— 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
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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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