It might be of little consolation to shopkeepers who feel they are being priced out of the market but the healthy state of the Hong Kong retail landscape has been reflected by a report which shows the city has the second-most expensive retail rents in the world.
Pointing to an increase in tourist spending -- most of it coming from mainland Chinese visitors -- the third-quarter 2011 report into global retail rents put together by international property consultants CB Richard Ellis says that New York remains top of the renting tree, with average prices coming in at US$1,900 per square foot per year (or €15,244 per square meter).
But Hong Kong has seen annual retail rents rise by almost 53 percent already in 2011, according to the report, and the city's shopkeepers now have to fork out on average US$1,695 per square foot per year (or €13,601 per square meter) to ensure they can continue to have a slice of the growing retail pie.
"Tourist spending continued to be the growth engine of Hong Kong retail sales," a CBRE spokesman told the South China Morning Post newspaper.
A number of major brands -- among them Apple and Burberry -- already have or are in the process of opening flagship stores in Hong Kong, a trend which local retailers say is the reason landlords are continuing to ask more for space in their properties.
CBRE says Asia continues to be a retail "growth area" hence the world's major retail players are continually looking to grab a foothold in Hong Kong -- great news for the record number of tourists who are heading to the city, primarily with a little shopping on their minds.
Hong Kong welcomed just over 30.4 million visitors in the first three-quarters of this year -- a rise of over 16 percent and a figure that has the city's leaders bullish about 2011 breaking the record number of 36 million visitors who came to town last year.
Mainland China has contributed 20.4 million of visitors so far this year, according to government figures.
World's most expensive retail rental markets (US$ per square foot/€ per square meter):
1. New York (US$1,900/€15,244)
2. Hong Kong (US$1,695/€13,601)
3. Sydney (US$1,224/€9,823)
4. London (US$961/€7,134)
5. Zurich (US$916/€6,799).
MS
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