200k for a parking spot

[Wishing2BFishing]

CNNMoney.com
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.
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if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object();window.yzq_d['juiwCNhtfF8-']='&U=13av2es7i%2fN%3djuiwCNhtfF8-%2fC%3d569350.9807531.10816518.1383221%2fD%3dLREC% 2fB%3d4534667';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.
Sometimes the parking spot costs more than the finished space in the same building. The building at 246 West 17th Street with the $225,000 parking spots has two-bedroom, 2-1/2 bath 1,717-square-foot units listed for $2.2 million. That works out to $1,281 a square foot, while parking spot costs about $1,500 a square foot.
That building isn't the only one which is seeing prices rise before tenants even move in. The paper reports that another 52-unit condo under development in the city's Chelsea neighborhood had its first two spots go for $165,000, the third for $175,000 and the last two for $195,000.
One of the buyers of a condo in that building told the paper she regrets passing up the chance to buy one of those spots.
"At first, I was getting overwhelmed and didn't want to spend the money," Cynthia Habberstad told the paper. "I'm kicking myself now, believe me."
Some people are buying parking spots even if they don't own cars, but instead buy the spaces as investments, renting them out to cover their costs.
Parking has long been a costly endeavor in New York, but expensive spots are not limited to those Manhattan neighborhoods. The paper reports that open lots and garages in Brooklyn, Queens, the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx and Harlem are close to $50,000, although at least one new Brooklyn development is asking $125,000.
And some other major cities are also seeing eye-popping prices for parking spots. The paper reports that in Boston, spots can sell for as much as $175,000, and as much as $75,000 in Chicago. But in other cities, like Los Angeles and Dallas, most condos include parking in their prices.


(taken from Yahoo cover page, CNN Money)

[bassfisher02]

It must suck to live in that big of a city. I'd much rather stick to my 'small town' area where i see trees everywhere i look. 225,000 for a parking spot is ridiculous.

[BLWeng]

I need to get to know some of them people, befriend them, and get some of there money handed over. Hell, i will wash there car for them for a mere $1,000 a week. Just think what my boat would look like.

[Wishing2BFishing]

Interestingly, according to the article, some people are purchasing the parking spots as investments. That said, it seems that these "consumers" believe the value of the parking spaces will increase. As if 225k isn't enough . . . someone evidently will pay more.

[zooker]

i lived for a year in the east village-manhatten- nothing and i mean NOTHING coming from that city suprises me. in 93 when i was there i had a 88 ford ranger..which i kept in a storage rental building..-it cost 1/2 what a parking space did-which was $58 per week..

when you hear some one say i'll be just a mintue when you knock on there door. it aint a joke it takes about 1 mintue just to open the door..we had 4 dead bolts, a chain cross lock, a double bar cross lock that was anchored to the center of the door and the wall 18" away, a door handle bar anchored into the floor. -tripped over THAT a couple dozen times-a steel pin that went into a hole in the floor on the bottom of the door..every window was barred over..this was consitered " a safe neighborhood" rent was not bad for nyc -$1500 a month-

it was as close to living inside a jail cell as i have ever seen.why any one would willingly choose to live there is beyond me..the ONLY thing i miss in that area -other than the girl i left there-is the mom and pop deli's..

give me the boonies any day..

zooker

[Bender]

Zooker, did you get more than one room for the $1500? My wife lived there for about 6 months in 2001, she moved out in the summer, it was before I met her.
NYC is about the only city in the world that I have no desire to visit. I have been from Bangkok (Krung Thep now) to Athens and I don't want to go somewhere there are rats running rampant (and you prolly would get in trouble for shooting them), garbage on the ground, and a lot of people not speaking the native language.
I got stranded overnight in JFK airport a couple months ago and had to stay in a hotel way out there and it still ended up costing me $300 for the night. That is the closest I have been to the city, other than the Newark airport. For a big American city give me Chicago any day. Granted there are a lot of panhandlers, but the city is great to visit. Still expensive and still wouldn't want to live there.

[zooker]

$300 for a night aint half bad.. did ya have to get a taxi.. i remember it was something like $20 for about 5 miles..

zooker

[Bender]

One of the only "free" things offered was a shuttle bus, for which I waited in the rain (half under a canopy) 30 minutes and still had to tip him.