HK's Causeway Bay remains world's priciest retail district: survey

[LONDON] Hong Kong's Causeway Bay shopping district has broken the US$3,000 per square foot barrier for the first time in 25 years to retain its billing as the world's most expensive retail area, according to a survey by property consultant Cushman & Wakefield.

Fuelled by competition between luxury brands and everyday convenience retailers for limited space, the average retail rent in the Causeway Bay area rose 14.7 per cent from a year earlier to its highest level in the survey's history, Cushman said.

Firms are willing to pay high prices for a spot in space-squeezed Hong Kong, long considered the gateway to China, and where the three premier shopping destinations top the list of the Asia-Pacific's most expensive locations.