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As some drivers continue to cut costs to keep up with current economic pressures, parking fees are generally a daily expense that some motorists have no choice but to pay.
While it’s no secret that parking rates in some areas have skyrocketed in recent years, if you're a driver in Sydney, chances are you could be paying the highest daily fees in comparison to motorists living in different cities.
According to new data gathered by real estate company Ray White, Brisbane holds the title for being the most expensive city to park in Australia, for a second year in a row.
However, Ray White's research also revealed that various Wilson Parking sites in Sydney's CBD recorded the highest daily fees in 2025.
The parking giant’s sites at O’Connell Street, Martin Place, Elizabeth Street, Parkhouse and Hudson House in Sydney charge drivers $95 daily for staying more than two hours.
While pricing can differ depending on the location, if you’re a Sydney motorist working near these areas, you could be paying $475 a week, just on parking fees alone. However, if you need to leave your car overnight, some Wilson Parking locations charge an additional $60 fee on top of the daily rate.
It's not all bad news. Depending on the site, Wilson Parking does offer various discount incentives through online booking and early bird rates, which can save you a couple of dollars.
Drive has reached out to Wilson Parking for comment on the story and will update this story if a response is received. It's worth noting that other Wilson car parks in some Australian capital cities also offer a similar daily fee.
In the case of Melbourne, its Flinders Street location charges drivers $90 for staying over two and a half hours, while its Eagle Street site in Brisbane also feature an $89 fee for stays above four hours.
Though it’s no secret that Sydney is Australia’s most expensive capital city, various Australians have looked to purchase car parks as an investment and additional source of income.
Alice Stolz, the property editor of real estate giant Domain, previously told Drive car parks in Sydney “can add hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of value to a property”.
“We know that many people like to lease investments such as parking spots to earn some extra cash... [and] it should be no surprise to anyone that with Australia’s most expensive capital city being Sydney, parking is really hard to come by and people are absolutely paying a premium for it,” she explained.
According to a May 2025 report by 9 News, an unnamed buyer spent a record-breaking $3.6 million on six car parks close to a tourism hotspot in Sydney’s CBD.
The nearly $4 million lot is located under the Quay residential buildings on Phillip Street and is 150m away from the Circular Quay Ferry terminal.
Prior to this recent purchase, the most expensive car park sold in Australia belonged to another anonymous buyer, who bought a parking space at Notts Avenue for a whopping $304,700 in January 2024.
While it's baffling to consider spending the equivalent of a home deposit on a single car park, it's worth noting the $300,000 property is located just five metres away from tourist hotspot Bondi Beach.
Stolz said available parking spots in inner-city suburbs and “affluent areas like Bondi and Balmain” generally command a higher premium, given that their location is their biggest selling point.
“Location is everything when it comes to parking... even if we talk about people in inner-city areas where a car [might] not be needed, that may be the case, [but] people still more or less want [to use] a car on the weekend even if they're in a property that's near public transport,” she told Drive.
Ethan Cardinal graduated with a Journalism degree in 2020 from La Trobe University and has been working in the fashion industry as a freelance writer prior to joining Drive in 2023. Ethan greatly enjoys investigating and reporting on the cross sections between automotive, lifestyle and culture. Ethan relishes the opportunity to explore how deep cars are intertwined within different industries and how they could affect both casual readers and car enthusiasts.
