How Much Does An Extra Parking Space Add To My Value Or Cost Me As A Buyer?

How Much Does An Extra Parking Space Add To My Value Or Cost Me As A Buyer?

Well, that depends on a lot of things. Generally when you’re talking about parking spaces, you’re talking about condos with garages, or communities with assigned parking spots that require a permit. When evaluating potential properties that are traditional sales (i.e. not a short sale or foreclosure), you will always pay a premium for a second spot. The question is, how much?

I pulled the sales from last year in 22201 to do a comparison of pricing for similar units who vary in the number of parking spots. Units were either identical in square footage or very, very close to try to keep constants in place. There are some that are different floors, so there may be a small variance accounting for higher pricing for higher floors, but all else remained as close as possible.

I list the net sale price for the unit with 2 parking spaces first, followed by the similar unit with only 1 parking space:

Courthouse Hill: $452,000; $440,000 (+$12,000)
Courthouse Hill: $480,000; $475,500 (+$4,500)

Charleston Condo: $520,000; $505,000 (+$15,000)
Charleston Condo: $411,000; $399,900 (+$11,100)

1021 Clarendon: $581,000; $545,000 (+$36,000)

Station Square: $585,572; $540,000 (+$45,572)

As you can see the numbers are all over the map. Here’s what you should take away:

When you buy new, directly from a developer, you’re likely going to pay $20-$30k for an additional spot when you buy a condo. However, when you are selling it, you’ll probably only recapture about 50-75% of that cost. Now if you were to rent an extra spot at say $120/month (in today’s dollars) that’s $1,440 per year (and just like rents and inflation, this number can go up annually).

A lot of factors to consider, but definitely some values to throw into the mix when evaluating pricing a unit whether you’re buying or selling.