RTL Today – €400,000 for a parking space: Craze for parking spots sends prices soaring in capital and southern Luxembourg

400,000 euros for a parking space on Boulevard Royal, 90,000 euros in Cloche d’Or or Bonnevoie. Garage and parking prices are skyrocketing in the capital and elsewhere. How do real estate agents explain this phenomenon?

There is no doubt that a private parking space in the capital today is, so to speak, gold. A quick internet search shows that the My Loft Lux Real Estate website shows a closed garage box of 30 m2 in Bonnevoie for € 135,000. JLL Residential is offering a parking space in the Monterey car park in the city center for 160,000 euros. And the Europrom agency is currently selling an “ultra-modern” car park in the old town – including a lift – for no less than 185,000 euros.

Extreme cases? There is no doubt about that. But there are others too, such as a plot of land consisting of a garage and five parking spaces in an inner courtyard in Bonnevoie. Listed for 625,000 euros by a real estate agency in the south of the country, the property represents an area of ​​almost 1.5 hectares.

In the brand new “Tours Zenith”, which towers above the Cloche d’Or shopping center, a covered parking space costs between 85,000 and 89,000 euros. Until recently, a closed garage in the heart of Bonnevoie was offered for the same price (€ 89,000).

Not only was it a large garage (25.6 m2) with an electric gate, electricity, and running water, but it was also the fourth property (of four) co-owned. This type of situation “is pretty rare and that explains the price,” says Brice Correia, founder of Movin ‘Real Estate. “The garage was sold almost at its original price,” he admits.

There is something for everyone and the prices vary between 45,000 and 400,000 euros depending on the location and neighborhood. “An inner location is being negotiated on Boulevard Royal for just under 400,000 euros. A dozen years ago it was around 110,000 euros, ”says Correia, who knows the area well because his real estate office is well established there.

Where does the parking lot madness come from?

All real estate agents in the area confirm that the prices for garages and parking spaces “rise with the prices of other properties”, as Mirza Babacic, real estate agent at Remax Immo Power, sums up. Even if housing remains affordable in some communities, house prices have exploded in Luxembourg since the beginning of the Covid-19 health crisis. This trend is clearly continuing. And Luxembourg City is once again the master of the square meter price.

According to Carol Fabbri of My Loft Real Estate Agency, prices have risen so much everywhere, not just in Luxembourg City, that investors are having trouble buying apartments and are focusing on parking instead. “The demand for garages is enormous in Luxembourg City, but also in Differdange and all over the south of Luxembourg,” she says.

A garage or parking space “is a small investment and is safe,” explains Babacic. It costs less to buy and there are fewer risks to rent. “If the tenant doesn’t pay, you lock the apartment or change the lock and you’re good,” says Babacic.

Rental is less restrictive, maintenance is almost non-existent and resale with added value is guaranteed. A garage or parking space “can be resold immediately and anywhere,” says Correia. Garages and parking spaces are currently sold in 48 hours, he says.

A quick look at the web also shows that the offer is limited. Rarity is another factor that adds to price. However, Brice Correia does not see the current parking lot mania as a new form of property speculation. A garage “is not a speculative investment”, but an object that reacts to the gloomy reality of the Luxembourg capital for drivers: “People have parking problems. They need parking spaces and they can’t find any!”, Correia said.