Thirty-three of the top 50 most expensive retail destinations are in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, according to new research from CB Richard Ellis. Cities in EMEA also dominate the list of locations with the fastest-growing retail rents, CBRE said in its latest Global Retail Rents Survey.
Thirty-three of the top 50 most expensive retail destinations are in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, according to new research from CB Richard Ellis. Cities in EMEA also dominate the list of locations with the fastest-growing retail rents, CBRE said in its latest Global Retail Rents Survey.
Fifteen of the top 25 fastest-growing retail destinations are in EMEA, with Tel Aviv, Oporto, Abu Dhabi, Valencia and Lyon topping the global list. The top 10 most expensive retail destinations are New York, Hong Kong, Moscow, London, Tokyo, Paris, Sydney, Zurich, Dublin and Los Angeles, according to the report.
CBRE said some smaller and secondary retail cities continue to see strong levels of growth, but retailers are focusing on some of the major global fashion capitals, pushing rents in the world's most expensive retail locations even higher. Global fashion capitals such as Hong Kong, London and Los Angeles now rank alongside these markets in the company's top 25 fastest growing retail rents index, whilst simultaneously claiming some of the most expensive retail rents in the world.
Despite deteriorating economic conditions, the retail sector has to date continued to perform relatively well, CBRE said. Half of the markets surveyed saw retail rental growth in the past year to end-September 2008, with 65% of those seeing increases over the last six months.
New York's 5th Avenue remains the world's most expensive retail destination, with rental values reaching EUR 16,817/m2/annum, more than 75% higher than Hong Kong, the second most expensive location. Also making the top five most expensive retail destinations globally are Moscow, London and Tokyo.
Demand is coming from retailers that are performing well in the current market - such as luxury brands - but also from retailers which are reining in wider expansion plans in response to weakening consumer spending and focusing on longer-term strategic locations as opposed to new destinations.
Ray Torto, Chief Global Economist of CBRE, said: 'Our analysis indicates that the upper end is holding up well and the same is true for lower-end, non-discretionary retailers.'
