Delhi 65th most expensive retail market

New Delhi is the 65th most expensive retail destinations in the world with an average monthly rental of $123 (Rs 5,721) per square foot, moving up four notches during the past six months, says a study by real estate consultancy CB Richard Ellis.

According to the Global Market View on the retail sector by CB Richard Ellis, retail rentals in prime locations across the globe has begun to stabilise during the third quarter of 2009.

While New York has retained its position as the most expensive retail location in the world, New Delhi has moved up four positions from the 69th slot it had during the first quarter of the year.

"It has now moved to the 65th position with rentals at $123 per sq ft per month," the report said, without giving the average rental figure during Q1.

It also said that the reporting period has seen domestic retails also stabilising. Globally the retail rentals slipped by only about one per cent during the quarter under reporting due to economic stability and return of consumer confidence.

"Our retail market fundamentals have been more resilient this quarter with consumer confidence slowly returning to the market. We witnessed a stabilisation in rentals after the correction a few months back with rentals having corrected on an average of 20-25 per cent," CB Richard Ellis chairman and managing director Anshuman Magazine said here today while releasing the report.

The report, however, cautions against supply-side risks in some cities in the country.

". . .the threat of supply-side risk remains significant in certain cities in China, Singapore and India, where large number of shopping malls are expected to be delivered in the coming years," CBRE said.

Globally, New York retains its top slot as the most expensive city with an average monthly rental of $1,640 per sq ft during the third quarter of the year.

This is despite fall of up to 25 per cent in rentals during past 12 months. According to CBRE, Hong Kong and Paris have also retained their second place and third slots with average rentals of $976 and $857 per sq ft, respectively.

Among other Asian cities, Tokyo retains its fifth position with rentals of $774 per sq ft, despite an average 18 per cent decline in rentals over the last year, the report added.