Beijing’s Wangfujing Ranks 13th for Retail Rents Globally

Rents in China’s most expensive shopping district rose by more than nine percent in the last year, but the increase was only enough for Beijing’s Wangfujing to keep its ranking as the world’s 13th most expensive place to open a shop.

While much has been made of the slowdown in China’s luxury consumption this year, the crackdown on purchases of luxury goods has yet to make much of an impact on the capital’s retail landlords as average rents in Beijing’s Wangfujing rose from an average of $436 per square foot per year ($391 per square metre per month) in 2013 to $481 per square foot per year ($431 per square metre per month) in 2014.

The rise in retail rents just kept pace with global averages as Wangfujing continues to rank as the world’s 13th most expensive spot for leasing shop space, according to a new report by property services company Cushman & Wakefield.

5 Asia Locations in the Global Top 20

In Cushman’s report, which examined only the most expensive location in each country, five of the top twenty shopping districts globally were in Asia, with Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay this year losing it’s top spot from 2013 to New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue.

Rank 2014	Rank 2013	Country	City	Location	Region	€/Sq.M/Yr	$/Sq.Ft/Yr
1	-	USA	New York	Upper 5th Avenue	Americas	29822	3500
2	1	Hong Kong (China)	Hong Kong	Causeway Bay	Asia	23307	2735
3	3	France	Paris	Avenue des Champs-Élysées	Europe	13255	1556
4	4	UK	London	New Bond Street	Europe	10361	1216
5	8	Australia	Sydney	Pitt Street Mall	Oceania	8658	1016
6	6	Italy	Milan	Via Montenapoleone	Europe	8500	998
7	5	Japan	Tokyo	Ginza	Asia	8120	953
8	9	South Korea	Seoul	Myeongdong	Asia	7942	932
9	7	Switzerland	Zurich	Bahnhofstrasse	Europe	7456	875
10	12	Russia	Moscow	Stoleshnikov	Europe	4749	557
11	10	Austria	Vienna	Kohlmarkt	Europe	4440	521
12	11	Germany	Munich	Kaufingerstraße	Europe	4380	514
13	13	China	Beijing	Wangfujing	Asia	4100	481
14	15	Spain	Barcelona	Portal de l'Angel	Europe	3240	380
15	21	Colombia	Bogota	Shopping Centre	Americas	3135	368
16	16	Singapore	Singapore	Orchard Road	Asia	3087	362
17	18	Norway	Oslo	Karl Johans Gate	Europe	3081	362
18	17	The Netherlands	Amsterdam	Kalverstraat	Europe	2900	340
19	14	Brazil	São Paulo	Iguatemi Shopping	Americas	2714	319
20	29	Turkey	Istanbul	Bagdat Caddesi	Europe	2660	312
21	19	Malaysia	Kuala Lumpur	Pavilion KL	Asia	2649	311
22	23	Ireland	Dublin	Grafton Street	Europe	2529	297
23	22	Canada	Toronto	Bloor Street	Americas	2478	291
24	27	New Zealand	Auckland	CBD	Oceania	2443	287
25	25	Denmark	Copenhagen	Strøget	Europe	2384	280
26	30	Taiwan	Taipei	ZhongXiao E. Road	Asia	2361	277
27	26	Czech Republic	Prague	Na Prikope/Wenceslas Square	Europe	2220	261
28	36	United Arab Emirates	Dubai	Shopping Centre	Mideast/Africa	2204	259
29	31	Greece	Athens	Ermou	Europe	2160	253
30	20	Israel	Tel Aviv	Ramat Aviv	Mideast/Africa	2105	247
31	28	India	New Delhi	Khan Market	Asia	2070	243
32	32	Finland	Helsinki	City Centre	Europe	1968	231
33	24	Ukraine	Kiev	Kreschatik Street	Europe	1900	223
34	33	Vietnam	HCMC/Hanoi	Shopping Centre	Asia	1805	212
35	34	Belgium	Brussels	Rue Neuve	Europe	1750	205
36	35	Sweden	Stockholm	Biblioteksgatan	Europe	1636	192
37	37	Lebanon	Beirut	ABC Centre Achrafieh	Mideast/Africa	1583	186
38	38	Luxembourg	Luxembourg	Grand Rue	Europe	1500	176
39	40	Kazakhstan	Almaty	Shopping Centre	Asia	1330	156
40	42	Hungary	Budapest	Váci Utca	Europe	1140	134
41	43	Portugal	Lisbon	Chiado	Europe	1110	130
42	44	Argentina	Buenos Aires	Florida	Americas	1064	125
43	46	Thailand	Bangkok	Central Retail District	Asia	1025	120
44	45	Poland	Warsaw	Ulica Nowy Swiat	Europe	1020	120
45	-	Serbia	Belgrade	Kneza Mihaila	Europe	1020	120
46	41	South Africa	Cape Town	V&A Waterfront	Mideast/Africa	1009	118
47	-	Qatar	Doha	Shopping Centre	Mideast/Africa	965	113
48	51	Peru	Lima	Shopping Centre	Americas	950	111
49	48	Channel Islands	St Helier	King Street	Europe	879	103
50	51	Mexico	Mexico City	Masaryk Avenue	Americas	874	103
51	50	Lithuania	Vilnius	Shopping Centre	Europe	864	101
52	47	Indonesia	Jakarta	Shopping Centre	Asia	791	93
53	61	Bahrain	Manama	City Centre	Mideast/Africa	756	89
54	56	Ecuador	Quito	Av Naciones Unidas	Americas	665	78
55	54	Slovakia	Bratislava	Shopping Centre	Europe	660	77
56	53	Slovenia	Ljubljana	Copova	Europe	660	77
57	55	Romania	Bucharest	Bulevardul Magheru	Europe	600	70
58	49	Oman	Muscat	Shopping Centre	Mideast/Africa	543	64
59	57	Latvia	Riga	Shopping Centre	Europe	540	63
60	59	Bulgaria	Sofia	Vitosha Blvd	Europe	528	62
61	59	Republic of Macedonia	Skopje	Shopping Centre	Europe	480	56
62	63	Philippines	Manila	Makati CBD	Asia	402	47
63	62	Estonia	Tallinn	Shopping Centre	Europe	360	42
64	64	Jordan	Amman	City Centre (CBD)	Mideast/Africa	317	37
65	-	Cyprus	Nicosia	Makarios Avenue	Europe	216	25

 

Thanks to concerns over Occupy Central and lower traffic from mainland visitors, Causeway Bay retail rents came down by more than nine percent from $3017 per square foot per year last year, to $2735 per square foot per year in 2014.

Ranked behind Causeway Bay in Asia were Tokyo’s Ginza at $953 per square foot per year, rnaking it 7th globally; Seoul’s Myeongdong district at $932 per square foot per year, ranking it 8th globally; then Wangfujing at 13th; and Singapore’s Orchard Road ranked 16th globally with retail rents of $362 per square foot per year.

New York and Sydney on the Rise

The biggest jump at the top of the world’s most expensive retail locations was in New York, which saw rents on Fifth Avenue jump from $2500 per square foot per year in 2013 to $3500 per square foot this year, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s data.

While France’s Champs-élysées rose more than 38 percent from 2012 to 2013, during the most recent year, Paris’ most famous shopping spot saw rental rates drop by nearly three percent to $1556 per square foot per year from $1601 per square foot per year.

Sydney also moved up a few spots with the Aussie city’s Pitt Street Mall rising in value from $850 per square foot per year in 2013to $1016 per square foot per year.

Beyond the Busiest Streets

Moving beyond the headline areas, the survey found rents rising highest in the Americas with the cost of leasing a shop up an average of 5.8 percent.

In contrast, prices in Asia Pacific increased notably more slowy, at only an average rise of 3.6 percent over 2013.