For the first time in the 34 years that Cushman & Wakefield has been publishing its commercial real estate study, a European high street has been ranked as the most expensive shopping street in the world. In the study’s 2024 edition, New York’s Fifth Avenue has been ousted from top spot by via Montenapoleone in Milan. In the last two years, commercial rent costs in via Montenapoleone have jumped by nearly a third. “In addition to strong demand from retailers in a context of limited availability, via Montenapoleone also benefited from the euro’s appreciation against the US dollar,” noted the report.

Retail rents on via Montenapoleone cost on average €20,000 per square metre per year, an 11% annual increase. Behind second-placed Fifth Avenue, whose rental costs have stagnated, another European high street has climbed up the ranking: New Bond Street in London overtook Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong, helped by rents rising on average by 13%. The Champs-Élysées in Paris remains in fifth place, with a 10% increase in rents since 2023.

Nearly all the high streets listed in the study’s top 10 recorded significant growth in commercial rent costs during the year. The average annual increase across the 138 high streets surveyed was 4.4%.

“Brands, whether luxury or mass-market, are redoubling their efforts to physically establish themselves in these strategic locations, as they seek to provide an exceptional customer experience and top-notch presentation of their products… this keeps vacancy rates very low and rents high, rents that retailers are willing to pay to secure and retain their space,” said Robert Travers, EMEA retail manager at Cushman & Wakefield.

In Europe, the commercial rental market is doing well (up 3.5% in one year), its buoyancy sustained by the influx of tourists, thanks also to the Paris Olympics. France has another three streets in Europe’s top-10 ranking besides the Champs-Élysées (ranked fourth in Europe): rue Saint-Honoré is fifth (with average rental cost flat at €9,942 per square metre), ahead of avenue Montaigne (seventh) and rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré (eighth), whose rental costs also remained stable. Rental costs on La Croisette, in Cannes, which sits in 15th place, increased by 7%.

For the rest of 2024 and for 2025, the study believes that the sector is well positioned to “take advantage of positive economic prospects, which are expected to boost consumer confidence and spending.”