Hong Kong Outperforms Manhattan The World's Most Expensive Retail Market.

A special administrative region of the People's Republic of China is formally known as a SAR. But, especially in the area of high-priced real estate, Hong Kong marches to its own drummer. The Causeway Bay sector of the neighborhood is now regarded as the world's most expensive retail street. للبيع شقة

For the first time in 11 years, the region has surpassed New York City's Fifth Avenue.

Cushman & Wakefield, based in New York City, came to this conclusion after conducting a survey of high-end retail markets in 2012.

The following are some of the highlights from Cushman & Wakefield's newest Main Streets Across the World report:

Bloor Street in Toronto is still the world's 20th most expensive street.

Overall, global retail rents were stable, with prime sites seeing a 4.5 percent increase on average.

South America saw the highest rental increase of any area, with top rates up 11.6 percent.

"Despite a weaker global economy and persistent uncertainty - particularly around the euro zone - global prime retail markets have proven largely resilient during the year to June, with rental growth powered in particular by a solid performance in Asia and the Americas," says the report.

Even though 95 percent of Hong Kong's seven million citizens are native Chinese with earnings that rarely allow them to shop in the glamorous Causeway Bay corridor, the city-state wears the costly label.

Hong Kong's Causeway Bay, located on China's south coast and bordered by the Pearl River Delta and the South China Sea, saw a 34.9 percent increase in rental values to $2,630 per square foot, owing to increased demand and leasing activity. The average rent on Fifth Avenue was $2,500 per square foot.

At $1,129 per square foot, Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris was the greatest climber in Cushman & Wakefield's top 10, putting it in third place on the high-priced list. At $1,057 square feet, Ginza Tokyo came in fourth. All of the rents shown are in US dollars. A Hong Kong dollar is worth $0.1290 in the United States.

Luxury retailing continues to underpin trading and rental growth throughout prime pitches of the global market, according to the Cushman & Wakefield analysis.

Luxury retailers are vying for the most sought-after shopping locations, putting upward pressure on top leasing prices.

Despite recent sluggish sales growth, the luxury sector will remain resilient, according to the report, and will continue to play a key and prominent role in boosting overall success in the world's most prestigious locales.

"Looking ahead, the major drivers underpinning worldwide growth are not projected to vary considerably," says Martin Mahmuti of Cushman & Wakefield's European Research Group, "with increased structural demand in Tier 1 locations, market globalization, and luxury expansion in important developments."

"There has been the usual jostling for the top positions between Hong Kong and New York," says John Strachan, Head of Cushman & Wakefield's Global Retail Services, "but, of course, the real message here is the unfaltering advance of the top global cities, fueled by a shortage of supply and the interest of international brands."

Only 49 (15 percent) of the 326 prime locations in 62 nations evaluated for the report saw rents increase, compared to 19 percent in 2011.