96 sqft car park sold for Rs 46 lakh in San Francisco

San Francisco, June 14: It was all cash sale and the Porsche owner purchased a parking space in San Francisco for $ 82,000 or Rs 46 lakh plus at current rate of exchange.

The South Beach area parking space is in an enclosed garage in a condominium building is just 8 foot by 12 foot and a block from AT&T Park. It means even parking space is not immune from the recent surge in San Francisco real estate prices, especially in a trendy neighbourhood.

Condos in the South Beach area are going for $1,000 a square foot. Considering such high rates, the 96 square feet parking space was a relative bargain at $854 per square foot.

The building where the parking spot was sold was built before the city restricted car parking spaces to one per unit. It is one of the few buildings that also allows non-residents to own a spot.

With the American economy looking up, the city has also seen real estate prices climb. Home prices in San Francisco grew by 22.2 percent in March compared with a year ago, second only to Phoenix among US cities, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released in May.

In fact, the nine-county Bay Area posted a 12th straight month of double-digit price increases last month, and the median price for new and existing houses and condominiums reached $519,000 in May, up 30 percent from the same period last year.

With agencies inputs