MAPIC: three European cities in most expensive retail top 10

Just three European cities - London, Zurich and Paris - appear in CBRE's ranking of the top 10 most expensive shopping destinations in the world.

New York remains the world's most expensive shopping destination as retailers focus on the major fashion capitals, but as the eurozone crisis continues to impact consumer confidence, rents have levelled off in all global regions in the third quarter of 2011, according to new research from the global property adviser.

Total retail rents at a global level were broadly flat quarter-on-quarter (-0.6%) in Q3 2011, with the Americas seeing a fall of 2% and rents unchanged in the Asia Pacific and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) regions.

This represents a significant slowdown from earlier in the year as retailers take a more cautious approach to expansion, CBRE said in the report published on the first day of the MAPIC retail real estate fair in Cannes.

New York's Fifth Avenue remains the world's most expensive shopping destination, with rents remaining constant at $1,900 per square foot per annum. The CBRE survey of the world’s most expensive global retail cities saw little change in Q3 2011 compared to the previous quarter. Sydney ($1,224 sq ft per annum) retained third position in the rankings, while London (S$961 sq ft per annum) moved up one place to fourth from Q2 2011 as competition for prime locations in the city's West End led to an annual rental increase of 5.6% in Q3 2011.

Zurich is ranked fifth, a rent of $916 sq ft per annum, and Paris is seventh ($785 sq ft per annum).

Peter Gold, head of cross-border retail EMEA, CBRE, said: 'Across Europe, falling consumer confidence and flat retail sales have resulted in more caution among retailers; however, occupier demand for prime space remains strong.'