Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui dethroned as world’s most expensive shopping district, falls behind New York’s 5th Avenue

Hong Kong can no longer lay claim to the world’s most expensive shopping district after losing that crown to New York amid an economic slowdown and an ongoing lack of international visitors due to Covid-19, according to global real estate company Cushman & Wakefield.

Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue displaced Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui district on the company’s first top 10 ranking since 2019. Via Montenapoleone in Milan ranked third.

The average rent on Fifth Avenue surged 14 per cent to US$2,000 per square foot in the third quarter, compared with pre-pandemic levels, while Tsim Sha Tsui dropped 41 per cent to US$1,436 per square foot over the same period, according to the report, which has tracked retail rents by district across 92 cities since 1988.

Tsim Sha Tsui saw rents decline 5 per cent year on year as retailers in the city struggled amid Covid-19 restrictions and depressed visitor numbers while the border with mainland China remains closed.

Rents in Hong Kong’s other major shopping district, Causeway Bay, fell 7 per cent over the past year and 49 per cent since before the pandemic to US$1,292 per square foot, according to the report. This puts Causeway Bay in second place in Asia-Pacific behind Tsim Sha Tsui. The district does not appear in the global top 10 as Cushman only lists one district per city.