Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay has retained its crown as the world’s most expensive shopping street with London’s New Bond Street taking the title for the costliest place in Europe to locate a retail store, according to new data from Cushman & Wakefield.
The annual ‘Main Streets Across the World’ report tracks rents for 448 locations across 68 markets - the largest number ever included since it started in 1988. The report ranks locations by their prime rental value using Cushman & Wakefield’s proprietary data.
Last year Causeway Bay ended five years of domination by New York’s Upper 5th Avenue and in the 2019 rankings, it retains its position with rents to locate a store amounting to 2.164 €/ sq m / month. Upper 5th Avenue is in second place at 1.775 € / sq m/ month, with London’s New Bond Street third in the global list, with 1.352 €/ sq m / month.
The Avenue des Champs Elysées in Paris (1.166 €/ sq m/ month) and Milan’s Via Montenapoleone (1.142 €/ sq m/ month) complete the top five. The biggest rental rise in the top 10 saw Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall increase rents by a colossal 17.9% over the past 12 months, to reach 849 €/ sq m/ month. Five of the top 10 global streets were in Europe, with four in Asia and just one in the US.
Report author Darren Yates, Head of EMEA Retail Research at Cushman & Wakefield: “In terms of rental performance, this year’s results are encouraging and demonstrate the resilience of the premier retail locations. Rents on the world’s top retail streets have been fairly stable and there is greater clarity on where retail is heading. However, there is downward pressure on rents in many weaker locations, particularly in the more mature markets of Europe and North America.”
Bogdan Marcu, Partner Retail Agency Cushman & Wakefield Echinox: “The comprehensive Cushman & Wakefield global report shows once again that traditional retail is not slowing down. We will be witnessing changes in the consumer behavior over the next few years, and the retailers' business will be entirely designed to interact omnichannel with the consumer. Retailers will try to create a unique experience through the integrated technology and innovative concepts of physical stores.”
From a European perspective, New Bond Street leads the way ahead of Paris and Milan, with Zurich’s Bahnhofstrasse at 683 €/ sq m/ month and Vienna’s Kohlmarkt at 405 €/ sq m/ month completing the top five. Among the top 10, Ermou in Athens saw the biggest rental rise of 14% to reach 285 €/ sq m/ month. Overall, rents in around 70% of locations in Europe were stable or up on last year. Polarisation is evident, however, between the more established markets of North Western Europe and Southern, Central and Eastern Europe, where modern supply is lower and online sales have yet to really accelerate.
The Asia Pacific region is in a relatively strong position, with rents in over 80% of locations covered either rising or stable. India recorded a particularly strong performance, with solid rental growth across several cities, while retail rents in Hong Kong have been resilient in the face of the recent protests - although the outlook is more uncertain.
In the Americas rental trends have shown a wide degree of variation. Rents in New York streets appear to be stabilising, following falls in recent years. Latin American retail markets continue to mature, although rents can be volatile.
Notes to Editors: Data is Q2 2019. Data for retail rents relates to our professionals’ opinion of the rent obtainable on a standard unit in a prime pitch of 448 locations across 68 markets around the world. For the purposes of this survey, the standard main street unit is defined – where possible – as a unit with 150-200 sq.m of sales area. Typically, a unit has a frontage of 6-8 metres. However, an element of flexibility is needed with the definition, given that unit configuration varies from market to market. Assumptions regarding ancillary space follow local practice.
Cushman & Wakefield Echinox, the exclusive affiliate of Cushman & Wakefield in Romania, owned and operated independently, has a team of over 60 professionals and collaborators that offer a full range of services to investors, developers, owners and tenants. For more information, visit www.cwechinox.com
Cushman & Wakefield, one of the global leaders in commercial real estate services, with 51,000 employees in over 70 countries and $ 8.2 billion in revenue, provides asset and investment management consulting services, capital markets, leasing, administration properties, tenant representation, design and evaluation services. For more information, visit www.cushmanwakefield.com
