Singapore’s prime retail property market remains stable in spite of the challenges it faces, revealed Cushman & Wakefield’s latest report entitled ‘Main Streets Across the World’.
According to the consultancy’s Director for Retail in Singapore Jocelyn Hao, the republic’s retail sector has been negatively affected by a variety of factors.
These are the strong Singaporean dollar, China’s new rules against ‘zero-dollar tours’, the government’s stringent rules on foreign labour and fewer visitor arrivals following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370).
In addition, tourist spending slumped by 19 percent in Q2 2014 due to significant drop in Chinese and Indonesian visitors, who are the two largest spenders on luxury items.
“Despite the headwinds faced by the local retail industry, prime Orchard Road rents remains stable with a marginal increase of 1.3 percent contributed by limited new supply of spaces and continued entry of international retailers who can’t ignore Singapore’s significance as the fashion capital in Southeast Asia,” added Hao.
Although prime retail rents in Orchard Road remains healthy at US$362 (S$471.61) per sq ft per year, Singapore’s iconic shopping belt failed to clinch a spot in Cushman & Wakefield’s top ten most expensive shopping destinations, ranking only 16th in the world.
Meanwhile, New York’s Upper Fifth Avenue where retail rents stands at US$3,500 S$4,560) per sq ft per year bagged the number one spot in the list, followed by Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay with US$2,735 (S$3,563) per sq ft per year.
“New York is once again the most expensive shopping destination in the world and for the first time since 2011 – Upper Fifth Avenue also set a new record for the highest retail rents ever recorded,” noted John Strachan, Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Head of Retail.
Completing the global top five are Avenue des Champs Élysées in Paris with retail rents of US$1,556 (S$2,027) per sq ft per year, London’s New Bond Street at US$1,216 (S$1,584) per sq ft per year and Pitt Street Mall at Sydney with US$1,016 (S$1,324) per sq ft per year.
Nikki De Guzman, Editor at CommercialGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this and other stories, email nikki@propertyguru.com.sg
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