In Sydney, the asking price for prestigious office space that is currently under construction is rumoured to be up to $1400 a square metre.

The anticipated rise in the costs of office space is typical of a market coming out of a recession and reflects the fact that relatively few new development projects have been started in the past couple of years.

Melbourne’s premium rent is more like $550 per sq m, but independent adviser Urbis has predicted a rise of about 10-12 per cent over the next two years.

Australia’s major cities remain among the most expensive in the world for parking space fees and office accommodation – a reflection in the lack of supply and the expected rise in demand for office space as numbers of white-collar workers rise.

DTZ’s 13th annual Global Occupancy Costs report, highlights six Australian cities that are among the world’s 100 most expensive.

According to the report, Sydney’s ranking has increased from position 45 in 2009 to 23 in the latest data – putting it well ahead of many international business precincts including downtown New York, Brussels and Berlin.

Melbourne jumped from rank 86 in 2009 to 53 in 2010. Brisbane is ranked 29, followed by Perth (32), Canberra (73) and Adelaide (80).

SpaceOut continues to offer a realistic alternative for people searching for cheap and convenient office space to rent.

The Colliers International parking rate survey, an annual review of Parking Rates across 140 city parking districts around the world, recently released their 2009 results. Sydney, Brisbane and Perth all ranked in the top 10 of the most expensive median monthly parking costs in the world.

With a median parking rate of $730, Sydney CBD was the most expensive in Australia and the fifth most expensive in the world. Perhaps surprisingly, #2 in Australia and 7th worldwide was Brisbane ($660), with Perth coming in a close 3rd in Australia and #9 globally at $645 per month.  Melbourne came in fourth in Australia ($425) followed by Adelaide ($275) and Canberra ($255).

The most expensive locations are London and London’s West End (which were ranked first and second)  followed by Amsterdam in third place.

If you are struggling to find a parking space at a price you can afford (or are willing to pay), it could very well be worth your while to take a look at an online service called SpaceOut (www.spaceout.com.au).  This new service provides listings of different types of spaces available for rent – Australia wide, and whilst they specialise in private storage spaces for homes and businesses, they also have a category for parking spaces. And the spaces they currently have available are a good deal cheaper than those detailed in the Colliers study.

The Average cost for parking Space listings on SpaceOut is dramatically cheaper than the monthly rate from the Colliers as outlined in the following table :

Whilst there are currently not many parking space listings on SpaceOut for Perth, there is quite a strong demand for spaces – with a number of parking Space Wanted listings.

We have seen very strong growth in our parking Space Listings, and when we became aware of the Colliers research data, we could certainly understand why.

Here is an outline of some of the new fees :

• Parking across a driveway: from $50 to $100 – 100% increase
• Parking in a disabled car park: from $60 to $200 – 333% increase
• Clogging an intersection: from $50 to $150 – 200% increase
• Breaching bus zones: from $100 to $150 – 50% increase
• Parking in a clearway: from $120 to $200 – 167% increase

Lord Mayor Campbell Newman has said the large fine hikes were designed as a deterrent to drivers. ” The message is simple: If you do the wrong thing and you risk public safety or cause traffic congestion you will be fined. ” Cr Newman said.

So if you are looking to save a bit of money on Parking Fees you had better be very careful how you go about it, or you could be paying out a lot more in fines.

One alternative that can help you to save on the cost of parking and avoid parking fines altogether is by finding a parking space to rent.

We’ve decided to offer free space rental listings as a response to member feedback.  Whilst most members thought that $30 was pretty good value for the potential to earn $200 – $400 a month, they felt that while the site was still new the chance of the right person finding their listing was reduced.  We agree – and for the foreseeable future we expect that all listings will remain free.

We may switch back to paid listing at some stage in the future, so we suggest you take advantage of Free Listings right now!  We may also offer in the future a Premium Listing option, with more features and functionality, so please let us know any other features you’d like to see on the site.