Cushman & Wakefield reports that between January and September of this year, leasing of retail space in shopping malls and well-known high streets increased by about 5 per cent in eight major cities.
The absorption or leasing of retail space in Grade-A malls and main high streets across the top eight cities was 5.53 million square feet from January to September 2024, compared to 5.29 million square feet during the same period the year before, according to data from real estate consultant Cushman & Wakefield.
Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Delhi-NCR are the eight cities in question.
Premium retail locations are in high demand due to rising discretionary spending and changing customer preferences, according to Saurabh Shatdal, Managing Director (Capital Markets) and Head-Retail-India at Cushman & Wakefield.
Although India continues to be very appealing to international retailers wishing to increase their presence, Shatdal stated that in order to unlock even higher transaction volumes, the country would need to expedite the building of high-quality retail spaces across key cities.
Based on data from Cushman & Wakefield, high street retail space leasing grew from 3.44 million square feet in January to September of last year to 3.82 million square feet this year. Nevertheless, malls’ retail space absorption decreased from 1.85 million square feet to 1.72 million square feet.
There was a considerable demand for retail space in Hyderabad’s well-known high-street locations, as evidenced by the lease of 1.72 million square feet between January and September 2024 compared to 1.60 million square feet during the same time last year.
