Upper 5th Avenue is most expensive shopping street in the world

A third more expensive than number 2

Planning to open a store on the Upper 5th Avenue in New York, then make sure you have plenty of money available: 33,812 euro per square meter to be exact according to real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. That sum is another record, breaking last year’s record, and almost a third more expensive than the number two on the list, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong.

The Champs-Elysées in Paris are placed third (13,255 euro per square meter), taking top spot in Europe again, just ahead of New Bond Street in London (12,762 euro per square meter) and the increasingly popular Via Montenapoleone in Milan (10,000 euro per square meter).

The 27th Main Streets Across the World report once again ranks the world’s 500 most valuable shopping streets according to their rental prices, which shows that those have grown 35 % worldwide despite the overall increased insecurity over the past 12 months.

Belgium placed 27, Luxembourg on the rise

The best shopping street in Belgium and Luxembourg are placed 27th and 29th respectively, with rental prices at 1,750 euro and 1,620 euro per square meter.

“The most expensive streets in Belgium (the Nieuwstraat and Louizalaan in Brussels and the Meir in Antwerp) are still relatively cheap compared to other similar cities in Europe”, Boris van Haare Meijmeijer (Partner Retail Agency Belgium and member of Cushman & Wakefield’s International Retail Board) said. Milan, Zurich, Vienna, Munich, Barcelona, Dublin, Amsterdam, Oslo, Copenhagen, Prague and Athens all have higher rental prices than Brussels and Antwerp.

The Grand Rue in Luxembourg rises to spot 29 and may very well become more expensive than the prime locations in Belgium over the next few years. There is a huge demand for prime locations in Luxembourg and that has boosted prices 8 % this year”, Boris van Haare Heijmeijer said.

France is top, Russia is a flop

France has the highest number of expensive shopping streets in Europe, all of them in Paris. Even though the reference rental price on the Champs-Elysées has remained stable, almost every other expensive Parisian shopping street has become more expensive over the first 5 months of 2015. The biggest hikes were for the Place Vendôme, Rue de la Paix and Rue Saint-Honoré, all up 20 %.

Grafton Street in Dublin and Covent Garden in London experienced the biggest rental price growth in Europe, but the top-notch streets in Milan and Rome also grew a lot. Russia and the Ukraine evidently suffered following the geopolitical conflict in that region, which hampered economic growth and consumer spending and therefore devaluated its shopping streets.