Retail sales continued to notch meaningful gains across the region. On the backdrop of positive labour market, income and tourism, consumer sentiment has improved. As a result, most retailers continued to expand in Asia Pacific with prime rents in Hong Kong soaring and further narrowed the gap with the world’s most expensive retail market; New York. However, retail investment got off to a slow start and progress has been marked with caution. With the regional economy continuing to make steady gains, Cushman & Wakefield expects the retail market to be stable and such positive momentum would support retail development in the region.