Raine & Horne agent Christophe Serrao said there’s almost no limit to what people will pay for parking spaces. (Source: Supplied/Getty)
Australians are being warned about an increasingly rare property feature that could boost a home’s price by tens of thousands of dollars. Some people love a good view, backyard, pool, or privacy from their nosy neighbours.
But parking spaces are in hot demand across Australia, and they come with a hefty price tag. Raine & Horne Double Bay agent Christophe Serrao told Yahoo Finance it’s fast becoming one of the hottest amenities for a home.
“I recently sold a car space down on Campbell Parade in Bondi, which wasn’t flash or in a great location, for $350,000,” he said.
He’s just listed a 32 square metre unit in Bondi Beach that comes with a 20 square metre lock-up garage that is on its own title, meaning you could lease out the car spot or sell it separately if you wanted to.
Serrao said it was tough to put a price tag on something like that because it’s so unique to have storage and parking in that northern end of the iconic beach.
But the unit has a price guide of $1.5 million.
Two other similar-sized units in that building recently sold for $1.425 million, but they had great outdoor spaces.
Meanwhile, this unit’s big unique selling point is the garage, and it’s already priced higher than its counterparts, with the agent saying he’s received dozens of calls.
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This Bondi unit has a price guide of $1.5 million, and it comes with a 20 square metre lock-up garage. (Source: Raine & Horne)
This wholly depends on where you’re looking and what kind of buildings are around you.
If you’re in a tightly packed area with plenty of apartment buildings, chances are a parking spot will come with a higher price tag.
But if there’s plenty of room for everyone, it might not be in as much demand.
Furniture retailer Luxo Living recently looked into the properties sold in the last two years and compared the price difference between similar homes with parking versus those without parking.
Sydney’s Newtown was found to have the most expensive parking spaces in the country, with them adding an average of $155,868 to the final bill.
Collaroy, a beachside suburb in Sydney, wasn’t far behind that popular inner west location, with parking spaces costing an average $155,858.
Sydney’s Coogee ($154,941), Highgate Hill in Queensland ($153,639), and Cottesloe in WA ($152,679) rounded out the top five.
There were five NSW suburbs in the top 10.
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“As suburban areas become denser… dedicated parking is becoming more scarce for everyday people,” Winston Tu, Luxo Living founder and CEO, said.
“What was once considered a standard feature of a home is now being treated as an additional upgrade, driving up the price of property in an already competitive market.”
He added that popular beachside suburbs felt this upgrade more profoundly as space was incredibly limited.
Plenty of areas across the country are growing by the thousands every year, and many aren’t seeing a subsequent increase in available parking.
Fraser Rise, in Victoria’s Plumpton, saw 4,316 more residents arrive in 2024 compared to the year prior, which was a 26 per cent increase in population.
Some street-level parking has also been stripped back in certain areas to make way for wider pedestrian walkways, bike lanes, loading zones, or seating areas for hospitality venues.
Serrao said that when developers are building a block of apartments, they try to squeeze as many car spaces in as possible, but only to a certain limit.
“They’re very valuable, the parking spaces; however, they’re not going to sacrifice parking for apartments,” he told Yahoo Finance.
“So they have to get approval from councils, and council regulations are pretty restricted on what you can and can’t do. They get a bit funny around parking.”
He said some developments will only be able to excavate to a certain depth, which meant there might not be a space every single unit-holder.
This lack of parking spaces has been incredibly lucrative for agents like Serrao, who has seen car spots sell upwards of $400,000.
Six 85 square metre car spaces near Sydney’s Circular Quay recently sold for an eye-watering $3.65 million, or $608,000 each.
This comes as the NRMA revealed that available parking in Sydney’s CBD fell from a ratio of 0.21 spaces per employee in 2014 to just 0.14 spaces in 2023.
It was a similar story in the city’s western suburbs, with Parramatta CBD losing roughly 2,000 parking spaces in five years due to the closure of three multi-storey carparks.
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