New York’s Fifth Avenue comes first for shopping
New York’s Fifth Avenue has come out on top in an international poll to find the world’s most expensive shopping street, hand bagging competition such as the Champs Elysees and Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
The Big Apple’s top thoroughfare regained the top slot from its Hong Kong rival for the first time since 2011 with prime rents rising 13.3 per cent to $3,500 per sq/ft – compared to just $2,735 at Causeway Bay and $1,556 on the Champs Elysees.
New York was assisted in its rise by downward pressures on rents in Hong Kong, down 6.8 per cent this year, owing to a tailing off of demand for luxury properties in China and recent street protests calling for greater democracy.
Matt Winn, head of retail in the Americas for report authors Cushman & Wakefield, said: “Positive economic news, combined with healthy retailer fundamentals, continued to filter through into the US retail market.
“The arrival of brands such as Microsoft, which recently opened its first flagship store in New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue, further underlined the importance of these premier shopping destinations.”
New Bond Street in London emerged in fourth place overall with rents of $1,216, a rise of 4.2 per cent on last year, whilst on the other side of the world Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall rounded out the top five following a hefty 25 per cent surge in rents.