Only retail space in New York and Paris is more expensive
Causeway Bay is the third most expensive shopping district in the world for the second year running, putting it in the same league as New York's Fifth Avenue and Paris' Champs Elysees, according to an annual survey released yesterday.
At an average rent of about US$500 per square foot per year, the area lagged No1 New York by 41 per cent and No2 Paris by 34 per cent.
The annual survey, conducted by international consultant Cushman & Wakefield Healy & Baker, compiled rental data of the world's most expensive shopping areas in each country at the end of June, at a time when rents in Causeway Bay had dropped 15 per cent because of Sars.
John Su, a regional director of Cushman & Wakefield (HK), said Hong Kong's rental levels were unchanged compared with June last year, despite the drop in the second quarter when the Sars outbreak was at its peak, but made up by a surge in retail rent in the first quarter.
'A lot of shops were having expansion plans at the end of 2002, and the effect was reflected in the first quarter of 2003,' Mr Su said.
Cushman & Wakefield said Causeway Bay retained its title as the most expensive shopping district in Asia, a title it has now held for three years, as consumers tightened their belts and the economy slumped.