HCMC street rents among world's most expensive: ranking

At $390 per square foot per year ($350 per square meter per month), Dong Khoi rents were higher than those of streets in Munich, Athens, Dublin and Barcelona, according to the report "Global Main Streets Across the World Rankings by Market 2023," released by U.S.-based property consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.

Dong Khoi moved up one place from last year as rents increased by 17%.

Hanoi’s Trang Tien Street in the downtown district of Hoan Kiem also made the ranking in the 17th place at $334 per square foot per year ($300 per square meter per month).

This is an increase of three places and 20%.

New York’s Fifth Avenue remained at the top of the ranking at $2,000 per square foot per year, followed by Milan’s Via Notenapoleone ($1,766) and Hong Kong’s Tsim Sha Tsui ($1,493).

Key roads in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have seen rents dropping slightly this year as landlords provided discounts to support tenants amid economic challenges.

Rents in District 1, however, remained high at around VND200-500 million per month, and in Hoan Kiem District the have stayed around VND100-300 million.

Overall, the retail property market has seen prices dropping by 15-25% year-on-year in Hanoi and 20-30% in HCMC, according to Dat Xanh Services, a property research unit of property developer Dat Xanh Group, which attributed the fall to economic challenges, rising inflation, tightened spending, and the rise of e-commerce.

Cushman & Wakefield said that luxury goods sales are still growing but at a slower rate.

More than 95% of luxury brands reported profit growth in 2022 and early 2023, it said.

Despite many global challenges, the high-end retail industry is expected to continue to perform well next year as high-end customers are rarely affected by rising costs, it added.