For the first time in five years, Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay has replaced New York’s Upper 5th Avenue as the world’s most expensive retail street by rental value, according to data from Cushman & Wakefield.
The annual ‘Main Streets Across the World’ report, now in its 30th year, tracks 446 of the top retail streets around the globe, ranking them by their prime rental value according to Cushman & Wakefield’s proprietary data, which includes a list of the most expensive streets in 65 countries.
| TOP 10 MOST EXPENSIVE RETAIL LOCATIONS BY COUNTRY (source: Cushman & Wakefield) | |||||
| Rank 2018 | Rank 2017 | Location | City | Country | Rent US$/sq ft/year |
| 1 | 2 | Causeway Bay (main street shops) | Hong Kong Island | Hong Kong * | 2,671 |
| 2 | 1 | Upper 5th Avenue (49th – 60th Sts) | New York | USA | 2,250 |
| 3 | 3 | New Bond Street | London | United Kingdom | 1,744 |
| 4 | 5 | Avenue des Champs Elysees | Paris | France | 1,519 |
| 5 | 4 | Via Montenapoleone | Milan | Italy | 1,466 |
| 6 | 6 | Ginza | Tokyo | Japan | 1,219 |
| 7 | 7 | Pitt Street Mall | Sydney | Australia | 964 |
| 8 | 8 | Myeongdong | Seoul | South Korea | 908 |
| 9 | 9 | Bahnhofstrasse | Zurich | Switzerland | 854 |
| 10 | 10 | Kohlmarkt | Vienna | Austria | 515 |
| *Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) within China | |||||
A significant decline in New York rents has seen Upper 5th Avenue slip back to second place globally, with average rents at $2,250 psf/yr compared with $3,000 in the previous 12-month period. Despite a small decline in average rents, Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay area takes top spot, with a figure of $2,671 psf/yr. London’s New Bond Street meanwhile is the most expensive European location, in third place globally, with rents broadly flat year-on-year at $1,744 psf/yr, underlining the fact that luxury and high-end retailers still see the UK’s capital as a key retail destination.
Elsewhere in the top 10, the Avenue des Champs Élysées is in fourth place ($1,519 psf/yr), with Milan’s Via Montenapoleone in fifth position ($1,466 psf/yr). In sixth place is Tokyo’s Ginza, which is the highest-ranked Asian street after Hong Kong, with rents on average costing ($1,219 psf/yr). Streets in emerging markets in Africa and Latin America account for most of the locations at the other end of the ranking, with rents as low as $20-30 psf/yr.
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