London offers the most expensive parking

London is the most expensive city in the world to park a car. That's according to new research from Colliers International, the first ever Colliers Global Parking Rate Survey.

According to the new figures, leading the list of most expensive cities to park a car is London; both The City and West End. Monthly parking rates in The City topped the list at $1,167 (₤600) with the West End in second place at $1,136 (₤584).

In third spot is Sydney Australia at $775 (A$825). Interestingly three Australian cities made the top ten; Brisbane at number five and Perth at number eight. Australia’s booming resource based economy and surging currency is the primary driver of these high parking costs. Daily parking costs show a similar pattern with London's City submarket at the top spot at $68 (₤35) followed by Amsterdam, London's West End submarket, Moscow and The Hague rounding out the top five. The cheapest city to park is Delhi at $1.75 for the day.

The survey also found that U.S parking rates have risen for the fifth year in a row despite the current economic situation. Even though the U.S. economy has slowed in 2008, office occupancies remain near cyclical peaks, and this has helped push monthly parking rates higher. Daily rates, which are more a function of the general economy and consumer spending, have also increased – and this suggests that the sluggish retail environment and higher gas prices have yet to impact the ability of parking garage owners and operators to charge more.

The median monthly parking rate is now $153.79 in the United States.  Rates range from a high of $750.00 in midtown Manhattan to a low of $20.00 in Memphis, Tennessee.  But although North American cities such as New York and Boston look very expensive, their parking prices actually pale in comparison to typical monthly rates in cities such as London, Sydney and Hong Kong.

For the full report, download it here.

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