Hong Kong is the world's most expensive retail city

Whoever thought London is the world's most expensive retail location, think again. Rents in Hong Kong in key retail locations can be up to four times higher than similar locations in London and Paris. Hong Kong remained the world’s most expensive

city for prime retail space, with rental rates nearly 50 percent higher than for similar districts such as New York’s upper Fifth Avenue. CBRE’s quarterly survey (Q1 2013), which tracks the top 10 most expensive prime global retail markets, reveals that strong demand from international retailers, coupled with a modest supply pipeline, has led to record-high prime rental rates.

Rents in Hong Kong 4 times higher than London

Rents in Hong Kong were also more than four times the rate in similar areas of London and Paris, according to the survey. Annual retail rent in high-end shopping areas in Hong Kong averaged 4,328 dollars per square foot.

"Given that space is so expensive in Hong Kong's prime shopping streets largely driven by continued demand from international luxury brands, many traditional retailers have moved into more niche secondary retail locations as they still want to be in and access the market, but have been priced out of the prime space," said CBRE executive director of retail Joe Lin.

New York ranked second among the most expensive global retail markets, with prime rents averaging 2,970 dollars per square foot. London was third with 1,053 dollars per square foot and Paris fourth with 1,050 dollars per square foot.

Many new retailers to the Central London market have been forced to consider alternative locations. This is most apparent on Bond Street, where retailers have looked to alternative locations in Mayfair. Examples include the fashion retailer Oscar de la Renta, which has now opened a 2,000 square foot store on Mount Street, with Céline also taking an 8,000 square foot unit a few doors down. The openings represent the first UK store for each.

Sydney, Tokyo, Melbourne, Zurich, Brisbane and Moscow round up the top ten most expensive retail locations.

Image: Bond Street tube station