New York has world’s most expensive shopping street, Bucharest’s Calea Victoriei remains in top 50

New York’s Fifth Avenue has reclaimed its position as the world’s most expensive retail street, with average rents of EUR 1.756/sqm/month, according to a new global ranking from real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. Meanwhile, Calea Victoriei avenue in downtown Bucharest, probably the most famous street in the Romanian capital, remained in the top 50.

The Main Streets Across the World report tracks the top retail streets across 92 cities and ranks the most expensive by prime rental value utilizing Cushman & Wakefield’s proprietary data. An annual report until 2019, this is the first issue since then – allowing insight into comparative performance pre- and post-pandemic.

The average monthly rent on Bucharest’s Calea Victoriei is EUR 53/sqm, which places the Romanian capital 37th in the global ranking, just behind Warsaw and up one place from the pre-Covid report. It is also ranked 46th out of 53 in the EMEA ranking.

In Prague, Budapest, Zagreb and Belgrade, the rents are above the level in Bucharest, a lower value being recorded in Sofia, Bratislava, Vilnius, Riga, or Skopje.

Dana Radoveneanu, Head of Retail Agency Cushman & Wakefield Echinox, commented: “The Cushman & Wakefield global report analyses the high street retail occupied predominantly by luxury brands, a retail segment which managed to quickly recover after the complicated initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictions. This positive trend can also be observed in the results reported by the luxury retailers present in Romania, such as Louis Vuitton or Rolex. Unfortunately, Calea Victoriei, the only Romanian commercial street included in the report, probably has the smallest fashion component in its tenant mix compared with the other analyzed European locations. However, considering that Calea Victoriei has become an increasingly popular destination, especially for its high variety of restaurants, cafes or bars, we believe that we will also see a development of the fashion segment in the coming period.”

Hong Kong maintained a high-ranking position in the 2022 ranking, coming in second with Tsim Sha Tsui at EUR 1,261/sqm/month, displacing Causeway Bay as the territory’s representative in the rankings.

In third, Milan’s Via Montenapoleone at EUR 1,212/sqm/month is Europe’s most expensive shopping street for the first time, climbing above New Bond Street in London and Avenue des Champs Élysées in Paris.

According to the report, rents across global prime retail destinations declined by 13% on average at the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic but have subsequently rebounded to just 6% below pre-pandemic levels. Global rental growth over the past year averaged 2% but has varied tremendously.