Hong Kong retail sales plunge in April

It’s the steepest dip in more than 5 years.

Hong Kong’s retail sales retreated 9.8% year on year in April, dragged down by a 40% y-oy plunge in watch and jewellery sales.

According to JLL, the drop in retail sales was the largest decrease in a month since February 2009.

Here’s more from JLL:

Tourist arrivals continued to record steady growth, up by 10.9% y-o-y in April. Visitors from Mainland China were up by 14.7% y-o-y, over the same period.

Retailers continued to show keen interest in large retailing spaces in prime shopping locations with Esprit pre-leasing three floors (17,944 sq ft) at Wings Building in Central for around HKD 2 million per month.

Henderson Land has sold the retail podium (16,000 sq ft) of Centre Stage in Sheung Wan for HKD 668 million (HKD 41,750 per sq ft, gross).