While the monthly cost of parking in most Canadian cities continues to rise, a new report shows a decrease in demand is making it a little cheaper to park in downtown Vancouver.

Four Canadian cities rank in the top 10 when it comes to having the most expensive parking spaces in North America — Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto — and most others are also getting pricier, according to the 12th annual parking survey conducted by real estate firm Colliers International. The national average increase was 2.7 per cent.

The price of parking in Vancouver dropped by 3.5 per cent, with the median cost for an unreserved spot falling from $287.98 per month in 2011 to $277.82 in 2012. But that’s still above the national average of $241.72 per month, including tax, and nearly twice the $140 that drivers paid in Vancouver in 2004.

The cost of a monthly parking spot in Toronto also dropped by nearly five per cent, to $316.40, according to the report.

In the survey, Colliers compared the amount of available private parking spaces in underground and surface parking spots at private lots, offices and residential buildings. City street parking was not factored in.

Using year-over-year data collected in June of this year and last, analysts found supply is the same but there are fewer people circling the block looking for parking.

“Parking is like any commodity. Its price is a function of supply and demand,” said Kirk Kuester, managing director of brokerage in Vancouver for Colliers.

“Supply exceeds demand as we sit here today.”

While the pool of available parking spaces is not projected to grow for at least two years, when construction on the Telus Garden and other large building developments are complete, fewer cars are coming downtown.

“Vancouver is a unique city. It’s become heavily urbanized so people are living much closer to the core areas. And you can really, really look to transit as being a major factor in getting people out of their cars. You can look to bike lanes and big nodes developing around transit stations,” Kuester said.

The number of cars driving downtown has dropped by as much as 25 per cent in the last decade, which the City of Vancouver has attributed partly to increases in walking, transit and cycling. By 2014, nearly $35 million will have been invested in bike lanes and other cycling infrastructure in Vancouver since 2010.

From 2008 to 2011, the population across Metro Vancouver increased six per cent, while cycling trips were up 25 per cent, bus trips 17 per cent, walking trips six per cent and car trips only four per cent, according to TransLink.

Kuester also predicted that in the future, the city will loosen the parking requirements for new buildings as even fewer trips are made in cars.

Motorists in cities like Halifax, Regina and Victoria experience waiting lists of up to two years for downtown parking spots.

The average wait time in Canada is eight months, but in Vancouver it’s just two months.

zmcknight@vancouversun.com