New York overtakes Hong Kong as world’s most expensive shopping locatiow

• New
  York’s Upper Fifth Avenue – where rents reached a record $3,500
  per sq ft per year – is the world’s costliest retail
  destination, with Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay seeing a 6.8% fall in
  rents and edging down into second spot

• Paris
  saw 6% overall growth but there was no change to rental values in
  the Champs-Élysées after a 40% rise last year – the street ranks
  third on this occasion

• London’s
  New Bond Street retains fourth position where rents rose by 4.2%

• Pitt
  Street Mall in Sydney completes the top five, with the location
  surging up three places as it recorded an increase of 25%

• Prime
  retail rents across the globe rose by 2.4% in the 12 months to
  September 2014

• The
  Americas showed the strongest regional growth with prime rents
  increasing by 5.8%, the same figure as last year, while EMEA saw a
  modest 1.3% rise and Asia Pacific witnessed a 3.6% uplift

CANNES,
FRANCE – 19 November 2014 –New York’s
Upper Fifth
Avenue has overtaken Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay as the world’s most
expensive shopping destination,
according to global real estate adviser Cushman & Wakefield’s
flagship retail research report Main
Streets Across the World,
published
today at the MAPIC retail real estate trade show in Cannes, France.

The
report is widely recognised as the barometer for the global retail
market and ranks the most expensive locations in the top 330 shopping
destinations across 65 countries.

Cushman
& Wakefield is at the centre of global retail and monitors and
analyses the evolution of the industry and global retail trends to
ensure its clients are best positioned to capitalise on future
developments in the sector.

Prime
retail rents across the globe rose by an average of 2.4% in the 12
months to September 2014, with recovery being sustained but at an
overall slower rate. Volatile and somewhat subdued economic activity
affected some markets, while structural changes impacting on others.
However, despite a more constrained rental growth rate, 277 of the
330 locations surveyed were either static or increased over the year.

The
ranking of the most expensive retail locations in each country
recorded notable movements this year. Rents in New York’s Upper
Fifth Avenue
hit a record $3,500 per sq ft per year as it leapfrogged Causeway
Bay, which saw rents fall by 6.8%, to secure top spot.

Cushman
& Wakefield’s global head of retail John Strachan
said: “New
York is once again the most expensive shopping destination in the
world and for the first time since 2011 – Upper Fifth Avenue also
set a new record for the highest retail rents ever recorded. Global
gateway markets continue to surge ahead as major brands battle for
premier addresses in the top cities.”

The world’s 10 most expensive retail locations in each country
Rank 2014	rank 2013	country	city	Location	€/sq.M/year	us$/sq. ft/year	% Change in local measure
1	-*	USA	New York	Upper Fifth Avenue	29,822	3,500	13.3
2	1	Hong Kong (China)	Hong Kong	Causeway Bay	23,307	2,735	-6.8
3	3	France	Paris	Avenue des Champs Élysées	13,255	1,556	0.0
4	4	UK	London	New Bond Street	10,361	1,216	4.2
5	8	Australia	Sydney	Pitt Street Mall	8,658	1,016	25.0
6	6	Italy	Milan	Via Montenapoleone	8,500	998	13.3
7	5	Japan	Tokyo	Ginza	8,120	953	6.9
8	9	South Korea	Seoul	Myeongdong	7,942	932	17.6
9	7	Switzerland	Zurich	Bahnhofstrasse	7,456	875	1.1
10	12	Russia	Moscow	Stoleshnikov	4,749	557	20.0

Source:
Cushman & Wakefield (Lists only one location in each country –
full ranking contained in the report)

*To
reflect the emergence of two distinct submarkets this year, New
York’s Fifth Avenue was split into ‘Upper Fifth Avenue’ and
‘Lower Fifth Avenue’

Despite
seeing no change to rental values after a 40% rise last year,
Champs-Élysées in Paris retained its third place, which was
followed by London’s New Bond Street in fourth where rents rose by
4.2%. Pitt Street Mall in Sydney completed the top five, with the
location surging up three places as it recorded an increase of 25% on
the back of a several international retailers taking up large units
in the last six months.

The
Americas yet again led the way as prime rental values surged ahead by
5.8%, an identical rate to that recorded in 2012/2013. The US and
Mexico were the main catalysts behind this expansion, while Brazil
acted as a drag on growth.

Cushman
& Wakefield’s global retail COO and head of retail in the
Americas,
Matt Winn, said: “Positive
economic news, combined with healthy retailer fundamentals, continued
to filter through into the USretail market. Prime
rents over the year to September were up an impressive 10.6% on the
same period last year. Indeed, strong retailer demand and robust
tourist numbers continued to support expansions across the country,
with gateway cities such a Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York in
particular witnessing double-digit growth. The arrival of brands
such as Microsoft, which recently announced its first flagship store
in New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue, further underlined the importance
of these premier shopping destinations.”

A
slower expansion was also evident in Asia Pacific (3.6%) where the
traditionally buoyant Hong Kong market was adversely affected by a
decline in retail spending and lower tourism growth.

James
Hawkey, head of retail in Asia Pacific at Cushman & Wakefield,
said: “Although New York
took first place this year, Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay remains the
second most expensive retail location on earth.  In 2014,
retailers showed caution expanding in Hong Kong in the face of
moderating sales performance and less exuberant consumption fr om
mainland visitors. Luxury brands were conservative, while watch and
jewellery retailers notably cut back on new stores, with this sector
seeing negative growth. Several leading local retailers recorded
lower holiday sales.  The beginning of the ‘Occupy Central’
protest in Hong Kong since the end of September has further weakened
the retail sentiment in major core retail areas, especially in
Causeway Bay and Mong Kok wh ere students are still blocking some
major roads.”

Occupier
conditions in the EMEA region were generally firmer and improved,
evidenced by a stabilisation in markets previously witnessing marked
declines in rents. However, EMEA growth (1.3%) was held back by
significant falls in the Middle East. Indeed, prime rental growth in
Europe (2.3%) was not too dissimilar to 2012/2013.

Justin
Taylor,
head of EMEA retail at Cushman & Wakefield,
said: “Europe’s gateway
cities continue to thrive, while emerging markets are also seeing
greater demand. Countries such as Portugal, Ireland, Spain and
Greece which in previous surveys witnessed sharp falls, recorded good
to strong growth in the 12 months to September.
Meanwhile, mature
core markets such as the UK, France and Germany continued to see good
leasing activity, particularly in the prime segment. Indeed,
exceptional luxury retailer demand in cities such as Paris and
London, coupled with the very finite supply on offer, continued to
exert upward pressure on rents in the best locations, but with large
premiums also paid by new tenants to secure their preferred space.
Turkey is also back in the spotlight with strong growth fuelled by
healthy consumer spending, an expanding middle class, better quality
retail space and the arrival of more international retailers.”

Martin
Mahmuti,
a senior investment analyst at Cushman & Wakefield,
concluded: “The trend for major
retail brands to experiment with design, layout, content and
services, as they reinvent the concept of their flagship stores, is
continuing to impact on major gateway city markets and will remain a
key factor influencing growth in the year ahead. Despite the still
uncertain economic situation in some parts of the world, notably in
Asia Pacific and the Eurozone, retail market activity is expected to
improve in the year ahead. Premier shopping locations will remain in
high demand as retailers are keen to establish a presence and raise
their brand profile, but supply as ever will remain tight. The
growth of online shopping, supporting the polarisation in the market
in favour of the biggest and the best, will increasingly drive
retailer expansion strategies whilst also having a structural impact
on local markets.”