Insane Sydney parking trend exposed

You won’t believe what some Sydneysiders are doing just to get parking, with jaw dropping costs raising fresh questions about the city’s development.

The parking space that many luxury Sydney cars are parked on is often worth more than the actual car.

Sydney has become swept up in a wheel estate craze as the cost of parking eclipses the price of many apartments and luxury cars.

Parking spaces – mere slabs of concrete of about 6m by 2m – have been selling for over $600,000 a piece across inner suburbs, with individual spaces outside the CBD selling for over $200,000.

It comes amid a shift by developers to new housing projects without parking – a move primarily guided by zoning restrictions and developer attempts to rein in costs.

The extravagant parking costs have also defied a drop in daily charges for commercial parking as the work from home trend continues to leave office vacancies elevated.

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One of the spaces recently sold as part of a $13.65m parking sale.

Daily charges for parking spaces within commercial lots now average about $77, down from $85 in 2023, making the Sydney CBD the second most expensive daily parking market behind Brisbane.

Ray White Economics commercial property analyst Vanessa Rader said demand for daily parking was falling because fewer people were coming to the CBD, but it was a different story for private lots near, or within, residential buildings.

Private spaces could command hefty price tags because of cashed up residents living in the CBD and its surrounds, she explained.

These homeowners often lived in luxury apartments with limited parking facilities, making private parking a sought after commodity – often worth hundreds of thousands.

“It’s a very specific category of buyer, they need somewhere to park long-term,” Ms Rader said.

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Source: Ray White Economics.

Sydney remains in a league of its own when it comes to sales of private parking spaces: last week six neighbouring spaces on Phillip St, near Circular Quay, sold at auction for $3.65 million.

The sale of the 85 sqm of concrete equated to a tyre screeching $608,000 per space.

Selling agent James Cowan of Colliers, who sold the spaces with agent Cameron Colquhoun, said they had expected demand for the parking to be strong but nowhere near the level it reached: there were close to 100 buyer inquiries.

“Strong bidding saw the reserve reached by the fourth bid, with more than 30 bids received,” Mr Cowan said.

He attributed the price to parking “being one of the most undersupplied and tightly held asset classes in the Sydney CBD”.

Parking spaces in this building on Clarence St have been selling for up to $308,000 in the past year, with the latest parking sale coming in at $290,000 in February 2025.

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Other recent parking sales included the $308,000 paid for an individual space within a compound on Clarence St. Another space in the same building sold for $290,000 in February.

Single parking spaces in the Macleay Regis, a building on Macleay St in Potts Point, have sold for $200,000-$270,000, with the latest sale coming in late last year for $225,000.

Back in the CBD, a double parking space on Bond St is up for sale for $525,000 – although the owner has had it listed for years without finding a buyer.

Ms Rader said these sales were all the more incredible when contrasted with the lower volume of people coming into the CBD and its surrounds since Covid.

“Traffic into the CBD is still down about 25 per cent on pre-Covid levels. No vacancy signs are rare at (commercial) parking lots,” she said, adding that recent developments may have been a factor in high private space sales.

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Parking spaces in the Macleay Regis in Potts Point, have been selling for up to $270,000.

This dual parking spot remains up for sale for $525,000.

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“There has been a reduction in parking within new developments,” she said. “Developers have been encouraged to include less of it in their new projects.

“People living in the CBD need somewhere to park over long periods and there aren’t a lot of those spaces.”

Real estate veteran Nuri Shik, a Potts Point agent with Ray White, has sold numerous parking spaces over the years and told The Daily Telegraph prior to a $225,000 transaction that a reduction in street parking for residents may be pushing up prices further.

Originally published as Insane Sydney parking trend exposed