Hong Kong loses highest retail rental crown to New York

New York’s Fifth Avenue has overtaken Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui as the most expensive retail destination in the world.

Milan’s Via Montenapoleone is third on the list followed by London’s New Bond Street and the Avenues des Champs Elysees at fourth and fifth.

According to Cushman & Wakefield’s ‘Main Streets Across The World 2022’ report, shops in Tsim Sha Tsui are paying an average of $1436 per square foot this year, a 41 percent drop from pre-Covid levels.

The ongoing Covid-19 limitations in the territory, which resulted in a sharp decline in foreign visitors, particularly those from the Mainland of China, and a slow recovery in comparison to the US, were blamed for the decline in Hong Kong's retail rent.

Hong Kong was able to keep its ranking position in 2022 despite other currencies' declines thanks to the peg of the Hong Kong dollar to the US dollar.

Tsim Sha Tsui overtook Causeway Bay in 2020 to become the territory’s most expensive precinct.

Meanwhile, America suffered only a 7 percent decrease in rents on retail main streets compared to pre-Covid levels.

Rents across the Asia Pacific were down by 17 percent due to the region’s much stricter approach to international borders than Europe.

Other Asia Pacific markets, such as Sydney and Seoul, which rely heavily on international tourists, suffered declines of over 20 percent.

Retail rentals have seen a robust recovery in India, but it has been slower in Australia, Singapore, and Japan. Mainland China's rents were mostly steady throughout the pandemic, but have decreased over the past year.