Report: Top Retail Spots Unfazed by Global Slowdown

Against global economic odds, prime retail rents were generally resilient over the year to June 2012, according to real estate giant Cushman & Wakefield’s newest global report, Main Streets Across the World 2012/2013. The annual report provides a global barometer of the retail sector, tracking rents in the world’s top shopping locations across 62 countries. It shows that, despite a backdrop of a slower global economy and continued uncertainty surrounding the euro zone, global prime retail markets have proved generally resilient. Rental growth has once again been driven by the strong performance in Asia Pacific and the Americas. (Of the 326 prime locations surveyed for the report, a total of 147 saw rents increase with just 15 percent experiencing rental declines.)

Meanwhile, Fifth Avenue, New York, is no longer the most expensive retail destination in the world. For the first time in 11 years it has been trumped, this time by a surge in demand and leasing activity in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, according to Main Streets