Buckwheat's Failure - Do-Nothing DemocRATs Force Main Street rents to suffer biggest fall in 24 years

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE58K5GK20090921?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

Main Street rents suffer biggest fall in 24 years: report
Mon Sep 21, 2009

LONDON (Reuters) - More than half the world's most expensive shopping
streets have seen prime rents slump in 2009, marking the biggest fall
in retail rents in 24 years, data from real estate advisor Cushman &
Wakefield showed on Tuesday.

New York's Fifth Avenue remained the world's most expensive street,
though prime rents dropped 8.1 percent to $1,700 per square foot per
year, Cushman & Wakefield said.

It was followed by Hong Kong's Causeway Bay with a 15.1 percent fall
to $1,525 per square foot per year, while rents in Paris' Avenue des
Champs Elysees were static at $1,009, the survey of 274 main streets
across 60 countries showed. Cushman & Wakefield's global head of
retail, John Strachan, said the past year was one of the most
difficult for the sector, with consumer spending and retail sales down
in many markets. "The good news, however, is that the worst is almost
certainly now behind us," Strachan said in a statement, adding the
annual survey's findings represented the biggest global fall in retail
rents in its 24-year history.

"There will undoubtedly be some markets which will continue to be
affected over the next year but we expect to see a greater number move
back into positive territory," he said.

By region, the average rent across Europe was $235 per square foot per
year, followed by Asia Pacific at $234 and the Americas at $193. On
average, rents fell 15.1 percent in Asia Pacific and 5.8 percent
across Europe, but rose 0.3 percent in the Americas.

Globally, the biggest fall in rents was in Mumbai, with the Colaba
Causeway down 63.5 percent. Europe's biggest faller was Bucharest's
Calea Victoriei, down 48.1 percent.

On the upside, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, prime rents rose 111 percent at
the Alameda Lorena. In Europe, the biggest gainer was Bordeaux's Rue
St Catherine, up 17.6 percent.

The average rent across the 274 main street locations was $213 per
square foot.

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