New York Leads, Sydney on the Rise as Business Rents Surge
November 26, 2000 - 0:0
PARIS Businesses on New York's 57th street in the Madison Avenue district pay the highest rents in the world, a square meter of real estate costing $7,500 (9,000 euros) a year, according to a survey published by estate agents Healey and Beaker.
The Champs-Elysees, the chic thoroughfare in Paris, comes second with business rents averaging $6,000 a year per square meter while rents in Sydney's Pitt Street Mall have soared to $4,800 a year per square meter, AFP reported.
London's Oxford Street is placed fourth, at $4,263, ahead of Hong Kong's Causeway Bay, fifth at $4,060 a year per square meter.
While New York retains the status of most-expensive business location that it held last year, the rankings elsewhere have shifted -- rents in Sydney, riding on the back of this year's Olympic games, have risen from fifth most-expensive to third, while Hong Kong has slipped from second to fifth.
While Tokyo is generally considered the most expensive city in the world for residential and office space, the price of business space is comparatively modest.
At $2,743 a year per square meter, the Ginza district ranks sixth worldwide.
The Asian financial crisis, which has depressed consumption over the past two years, is continuing to bear down on business rents, with Singapore's Orchard Street currently ranked 14th most-expensive location. It had figured in the leading group a few years ago.
"Rents in the business sector are relatively independent of those in residential real estate because they're based mainly on sales figures," said Christian Dubois, Healey and Baker business director.
Thus economic growth in Europe has seen a steady rise in business rents, not just in capital cities but also in regional centers.
In France, the cost of a central location in the second city of Lyon Rose by around half, while in the northern city of Lille it has virtually doubled.
In some cities, notably Tokyo, the shortage of residential surfaces has seen rents for accommodation fluctuate in inverse proportion to business rents -- when the cost of housing is high, the population has less to spend on consumer goods, Dubois noted.
Business rents are likely to continue to rise in step with such trends as the globalization of brand names and the spread of megastores in city centers, he said.
Among the pointers in this year's list, the Healey and Baker report highlighted the rise of rents in Turkey and its capital city Ankara, which saw an increase of 125 percent compared with 1999.
The Champs-Elysees, the chic thoroughfare in Paris, comes second with business rents averaging $6,000 a year per square meter while rents in Sydney's Pitt Street Mall have soared to $4,800 a year per square meter, AFP reported.
London's Oxford Street is placed fourth, at $4,263, ahead of Hong Kong's Causeway Bay, fifth at $4,060 a year per square meter.
While New York retains the status of most-expensive business location that it held last year, the rankings elsewhere have shifted -- rents in Sydney, riding on the back of this year's Olympic games, have risen from fifth most-expensive to third, while Hong Kong has slipped from second to fifth.
While Tokyo is generally considered the most expensive city in the world for residential and office space, the price of business space is comparatively modest.
At $2,743 a year per square meter, the Ginza district ranks sixth worldwide.
The Asian financial crisis, which has depressed consumption over the past two years, is continuing to bear down on business rents, with Singapore's Orchard Street currently ranked 14th most-expensive location. It had figured in the leading group a few years ago.
"Rents in the business sector are relatively independent of those in residential real estate because they're based mainly on sales figures," said Christian Dubois, Healey and Baker business director.
Thus economic growth in Europe has seen a steady rise in business rents, not just in capital cities but also in regional centers.
In France, the cost of a central location in the second city of Lyon Rose by around half, while in the northern city of Lille it has virtually doubled.
In some cities, notably Tokyo, the shortage of residential surfaces has seen rents for accommodation fluctuate in inverse proportion to business rents -- when the cost of housing is high, the population has less to spend on consumer goods, Dubois noted.
Business rents are likely to continue to rise in step with such trends as the globalization of brand names and the spread of megastores in city centers, he said.
Among the pointers in this year's list, the Healey and Baker report highlighted the rise of rents in Turkey and its capital city Ankara, which saw an increase of 125 percent compared with 1999.