Whether you're looking for a modest home, a luxe glass box in the sky, or even a strip of asphalt bounded by painted yellow lines, living in Downtown Toronto comes with a hefty price tag.

Say you've saved up and bought a condo in the centre of it all, but your car is a part of your life that you just can't lose. Well, get ready to dig deep into those savings because condo parking garages are now home to some of the highest price-per-square-foot figures in Canada.

Twenty-nineteen saw new records being broken for parking spot sales price, a parking spot beneath the SoHo hotel going for an eye-popping $85,750. Things got even crazier in 2020 when a parking spot sold for $122,900 at the Ritz-Carlton Residences.

Last year's record-high selling price was not the only spot to crack the $100K mark. Two more parking spots at 197 Yonge Street and 1 Bloor Street East exceeded this number.

The address of 197 Yonge could once again rank among Toronto's most expensive parking spots in 2021: A space in the building currently listed for a flat-out ridiculous $120K.

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If you're willing to shell out that much, the added $211 in monthly maintenance fees probably won't be a problem.

The clear pattern emerging here is that buyers are willing to pay a premium for parking within newly-built condo towers in densely packed Downtown areas where surface and on-street parking options are limited.

There are a few reasons that 197 Yonge, marketed as the Massey Tower, sees such demand for parking.

Its prime location aside, the building hides a complicated automated parking system required due to the site's tiny size. It should be some relief to know that for $120K, your car will be handled and sorted by a state-of-the-art car elevator, stacking, and turntable system.

Thanks to its unusually tight site, much of the building's parking had to be built above street level, hidden away behind sculpted glass walls.

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Above-grade parking is typically discouraged by the city, and the cost of building underground parking garages grows exponentially the deeper they’re built. This hasn't yet led to a critical shortage of parking, but the prices reflect an ever-growing demand.

Meanwhile, over in Detroit, you can get a vacant five-unit townhouse for $10K USD.