HK’s Tsim Sha Tsui claims the second most expensive shopping street globally

Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui has claimed the world’s second most expensive shopping district, following Upper 5th Avenue in New York City.

According to the Flagship Main Streets Across the World report by global real estate company Cushman & Wakefield, New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue moves up one spot to number one, now ranks as the most expensive retail destination in the world.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong has slipped to second place, with Tsim Sha Tsui overtaking Causeway Bay as the most expensive precinct in the city-state. Via Montenapoleone in Milan has jumped two positions to achieve third place, followed by London’s New Bond Street and The Avenues des Champs Elysees in Paris rounding out the top five.

The report tracks the top retail districts across 92 cities and ranks the most expensive by prime rental value. This year’s report allows insights into comparative performance pre and post-pandemic.

Furthermore, the report also also revealed the rent growth across the globe. Rents across global prime retail destinations declined by 13% from before the pandemic to their lowest point on average, but have subsequently rebounded to sit 6% below pre-pandemic levels

Asia Pacific was most impacted during the pandemic period as rents fell on average by 17%, mainly due to border closures that affected prime international tourist destinations in the region.

At the market level, the differences of rents on retail main streets are starker. For example, Hong Kong declined by an average of 45%, reflecting ongoing social unrest which continued into 2020, geopolitical uncertainties and the drop off in mainland Chinese tourists as international borders closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, other Asia Pacific markets such as Sydney and Seoul— markets that rely heavily on international tourists—experienced declines in excess of 20%.

Rents in Hong Kong’s major shopping district, Causeway Bay, dropped 7% over the past year and 49% since before the pandemic to US$1,292 per square foot, according to the report. Therefore, Causeway Bay ranks the second in Asia Pacific following Tsim Sha Tsui. 

Recently, more than 70 new stores have set foot at Harbour City and nearly 100 new stores are expected to open in the mall by the end of this year, including retail, food & beverage and more. This comes as Hong Kong’s retail sales rose more than expected in July while the city is trying to recover from covid restrictions.

According to the Census and Statistics Department, the value of total retail sales in July 2022, provisionally estimated at $28.3 billion, increased by 4.1% compared with the same month in 2021. The revised estimate of the value of total retail sales in June 2022 decreased by 1.3% compared with a year earlier. For the first 7 months of 2022 taken together, it was provisionally estimated that the value of total retail sales decreased by 1.7% compared with the same period in 2021. 

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