Manhattan parking spot going for $225,000
Thursday July 12, 11:38 am ET
Parking spaces in New York cost as much as $225,000 and could soon be going higher still, putting the cost for the prime spots above the price tag of the typical U.S. home price.
Manhattan real estate agent Tom Postilio said there is a waiting list of seven or eight people hoping to pay $225,000 for one of five private parking spaces that has been approved in the basement of 246 West 17th Street, a 34-unit condo development scheduled for completion next January.
The developer of that building is seeking permission to add another four spots, and Postilio said the addition spots are likely to cost even more than the current price, although he could not give an exact price.
"Supply and demand being what it is, there's probably going to be an increase," he told CNNMoney.com.
That latest figures from the National Association of Realtors put the nation's median existing home price at $223,700 in May, meaning that half of the homes sold in the month sold for less than that and half sold for more. Overall, home prices nationwide have been declining in the face of a slump in home sales this year.
Part of the reason for the pricey spots in New York is city rules controlling new residential buildings in most of Manhattan that limit spots to about 20 percent of the units, according to The New York Times, which first reported the $225,000 price tag in an article Thursday.
That limit has resulted in some condo buyers paying roughly as much per square foot for their car's home as for their own, according to the paper.
The paper says that property appraiser Miller Samuel estimates that the average parking space in the expensive neighborhoods of Manhattan now costs $165,019, or $1,100 per square foot. That compares to an average apartment price of $1,107 per square foot.
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