Australian cities among most expensive to park in the world

The cost of parking in Australia's capital cities outranks some of the world's largest metropolises, with rates holding steady and in some cases increasing despite the global recession beginning to bite, new research by Colliers International shows.

The annual global Colliers International Parking Rate Survey revealed Sydney, Brisbane and Perth again all ranked in the top 10 cities globally for the most expensive median monthly parking and the top five in Asia Pacific.

The survey tracked 140 downtown parking districts around the globe with a broad representation across the regions of North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.

London City was once again the most expensive CBD for parking in the survey with a median monthly rate of $1,020.29 USD, followed by London's West End at $955.51 USD and Amsterdam at $805.36 USD. The results highlight how parking appears to be somewhat immune to the economic downturn with, in local currency terms, both London markets registering a modest increase from 2008 rates.

The Sydney CBD, with a monthly average of $587.72 USD ($733 AUD), was the priciest place to park in Australia, the fifth most expensive in the world and second most expensive in Asia Pacific behind Hong Kong, which averaged $748 USD. 

Sydney outranked midtown Manhattan, American's most expensive city, which recorded a median monthly rate of $550 USD, Tokyo with a rate of $525 USD and Zurich at $515.74 USD.

Brisbane was the seventh most expensive in the world and jumped to third priciest in the Asia Pacific region, with rates increasing 5 per cent to $529.19 USD ($660 AUD), while Perth came in ninth in the world and fifth in Asia Pacific, with a median rate of $517.16 USD ($645 AUD).

Melbourne was the next most expensive city in Australia at $340.77 USD ($425 AUD), followed by Adelaide at $220.50 USD ($275 AUD) and Canberra at $204.46 USD ($255 AUD).

Felice Spark, Director of Commercial Research at Colliers International, says historically there has been a link between the health of the office market and monthly parking rates and the health of the consumer economy and daily parking rates.

"This has been the trend observed over the nine years we have conducted this survey, however, we're yet to see the impact of increasing office vacancy truly filter through to parking costs," she said.

"Sydney and Melbourne were the only Australian cities to witness some softening in the monthly parking rate, a reflection of increasing unemployment in both CBDs.

"Although, while Sydney, Australia's financial services hub, has been the hardest hit with the greatest amount of sub-lease space now hitting the market, it recorded a smaller decrease in monthly rates than Melbourne, with a drop of 11 per cent compared to 19 per cent in the Victorian capital."

Ms Spark said rising CBD vacancy rates meant there would be less people parking in the cities and therefore a decrease in demand for parking.

"Increasing part-time employment is another factor here, meaning people only need to drive to the city a few days a week, therefore decreasing demand for monthly parking options whilst keeping daily parking rates strong," she said.

Ms Spark said, on the other hand, Brisbane had experienced a 5 per cent increase in monthly parking rates and 19 per cent increase in daily rates, Adelaide an increase of 7.5 per cent in monthly rates and Perth an increase of as much as 15 per cent in daily rates.

"Parking stock in CBDs across the country also remains quite tight, so the increase in these cities could be a result of a continued imbalance between supply and demand, with the office markets remaining solid," she said.

Sydney was also ranked in the top 10 cities globally for its daily parking rates, coming in as the ninth most expensive city.

Three cities in Australia made it into the top 5 most expensive cities in the Asia Pacific region for daily parking rates, including Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.

Within Australia, the daily parking rate was highest in Sydney at $44.10 USD ($55 AUD), followed by Brisbane at $38.09 USD ($47.50 AUD), Melbourne at $30.47 USD ($38 AUD), Perth at $23.25 USD ($29 AUD), Adelaide at $14.83 USD ($18.50 AUD) and Canberra at just $6.82 USD ($8.50 AUD).