Cushman & Wakefield’s “Main Streets Across the World 2016/2017” priced real estate in Seoul’s shopping district Myeong-dong at $908 per square foot (0.093 square meter) per year, with an outlook to further rise. Although consumers in South Korea are increasingly turning online for shopping, the report said the “inflow of Chinese tourists” is supporting the demand for shop units.

Other major shopping streets noted in Korea were around Gangnam Station and Garosu-gil, as well as the trendy Hongdae district.

The Nature Republic cosmetics store in Myeong-dong has been the most expensive plot of real estate in Korea for the past 12 years, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport this year.

According to the Cushman & Wakefield report, the most expensive shopping district in Asia is Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay at $2,878 per square foot, followed by Japan’s Tokyo Ginza district at $1,249. The most expensive shopping street in the world is Upper 5th Avenue in New York City, at $3,000 per square foot.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)