Bulgarian capital Sofia's main shopping street, Vitosha Blvd, has marked the steepest drop in rent rates among world shopping locations reviewed by Colliers International.

Colliers's 2012 report states that rents on Vitosha Boulevard have dropped by as much as 38.5%, whereas the world's top 10 locations have increased rents, some above 30%.

The average rent on Sofia's main street for June 2012 is about EUR 20 per square meter, whereas in 2008 it was some EUR 120/ sq.m.

Apart from the economic crisis, another factor for the slump is the ongoing construction of an underground line beneath Vitosha Blvd, which makes stores harder to access.

The main shopping street of the Bulgarian capital has dropped out of the top 50 in the Colliers report, which includes 129 locations worldwide.

The report states that central Sofia has some 4500 sq.m. of empty shopping spaces, with 80% of them located on Vitosha Blvd, but says that it expects the negative trend to be reversed after the completion of the underground line in August.

New York's Fifth Avenue, two of Hong Kong's shopping streeds, London's Bond and Paris';s Champs Elysees have remained on Colliers's top 5.

According to the report, Sofia's Vitosha Blvd is comparable to high streets in Bratislava, Minsk and Tirana.

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