Toronto certainly has a high cost-of-living, but let's take a moment to look at Hong Kong.
The world's least affordable city just saw a parking spot sell for 765,000 USD or HK$6 million.
The parking space at the luxury Ultima project located in the Kowloon district was initially bought in September 2017 by a local couple for 430,000 USD. (HK$3.4 million). A mere nine months later they resold the spot for 765,000 USD. (HK$6 million).
That's a 330,000 USD. (HK$2.6 million) profit.
The lofty parking spot price tag sets a new world property record.
The average parking space now goes for about HK$2.25 million, more than a 600-per-cent increase since 2006.
Of course, there has been a dramatic increase in the cost of Toronto parking spots as well.
The Financial Post shared statistics for 10 condo projects in downtown Toronto that were sold in the first quarter of 2007 and compared them to the first quarter of 2011.
In 2007, the average downtown Toronto parking spot sold for $27,500. The priciest parking spots sold at Trump International for $35,000 each.
Eight years later, and the average spot was selling for $51,376. While the priciest spot cost $69,000 at Massey Tower on Yonge Street.
The shocking rise in parking is prompting some creative solutions. The same way Airbnb and Uber disrupted their respective industries, the app Rover plans to do the same for parking.
Rover connects empty and unused parking spots with those looking for affordable and convenient parking. It's like the Airbnb of parking.
The app is currently available across Canada.
