$100,000 for an Auckland CBD car park

Buying a car park in the centre of Auckland will cost tens of thousands of dollars. File photo / Thinkstock

CBD car parks are selling for as much as $100,000 as a growing number of Aucklanders choose the inner-city lifestyle.

The demand for car parks means people are willing to pay as much per square metre for a car-sized concrete pad as for their home.

Bayleys Real Estate apartment sales specialist Hamish Duke said he sold a car park in the Metropolis building on Courthouse Lane for $100,000 about three years ago.

Six months ago he sold a car park at the Heritage Tower on Nelson St for $85,000.

The demand for car parks was being driven by more Aucklanders choosing to live in the city, and a flourishing market in inner-city apartments, he said.

"The average price for a car park is somewhere between $50,000 and $60,000. Quay West, the Heritage and the Metropolis get the highest prices because they've got quite expensive apartments there and owners who don't mind spending a bit extra."

Mr Duke said the average price of a CBD apartment per square metre was $4000 to $5000. Car parks could sometimes fetch more, going for between $3500 to $4500 per square metre.

"The buyers are a real mix - people who work in town; investors who buy them because they're a pretty easy investment and fetch $50 - $100 a week rent; then there's people who just need to add another car park to their apartment. In some apartment buildings there isn't a car park for every unit, so they're very popular."

Barfoot & Thompson real estate agent Athena Wang currently has a car park at 155 Queen St on sale for $67,000.

The owner would also have to pay Auckland Council rates of $882 per year, as well as body corporate fees of $831, plus GST.

Local man Aaron Rodgers is trying to cash in on the high car park prices.

He recently sold his two bedroom Anzac Ave apartment for $305,000 but the buyer didn't want the car park on nearby Eden Crescent.

"I initially had it [the car park] on at $70,000 just to be a little bit greedy and see what was out there but then I thought I'd be realistic and put it on for $50,000," he said.

"I know the car parks in that building have been selling for $45,000, and my car park is big - it can fit two small cars - so I would have thought it would sell quickly."

After a few days on the market, he hadn't had any interest.

Property analyst Bob Dey said two secure parking spaces on Anzac Ave were sold under the hammer this week for $34,700 each - about the same price as the going rate for many apartments around town.

"When you look at Anzac Ave you've got bus lanes, no parking all the way down the street, not many side streets and a large parking company building with expensive parking, so that makes the car parks valuable property," he said

According to the New Zealand Transport Agency, there were 1,072,392 licensed vehicles in the Auckland region last year.