Where parking costs more than the house

Ten carparks in crowded Manhattan are on sale at US$1 million each.

Parking spaces in New York are being sold for US$1 million ($1.22 million) as developers try to cash in on a shortage of car parks.

A luxury development at 42 Crosby St in the fashionable SoHo district of Lower Manhattan is offering 10 underground parking spots to residents, the New York Times reported.

The site is a former car park, but spaces are at a premium in the packed district, and as the nine three-bedroom flats cost up to US$25 million, estate agents believe clients will pay the price.

At about US$5500 a square foot, the spaces are more expensive than the apartments upstairs, and anyone buying one is paying only for a 99-year lease that expires if they move out, rather than owning it outright.

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The founder of the brokerage firm handling sales at 42 Crosby, Shaun Osher, said there were "few to no options" for parking in the area.

"In real estate, location defines value and parking is no exception to that rule."

Parking spaces elsewhere in New York have been seen selling for up to US$500,000 and it is not the only city being affected by rocketing prices.

Parking in Britain isn't cheap either. A garage in Kensington, London, is on the market for £500,000 ($987,000) - the same price as an eight-bedroom Georgian mansion in Yorkshire, or a lightkeeper's house in Scotland.

Measuring almost 3m wide and 6m long, it also comes with a £280 a year "service charge".

Estate agents described it as a "valuable asset" and assured prospective buyers it could "accommodate cars as large as a Range Rover or a Bentley Continental".

-Independent