The World's Most Expensive Streets

Every city has one - a retail thoroughfare that houses the most exclusive stores. Real estate slowdown or not, these luxury corridors are still thriving - for now, at least.

1. Fifth Avenue, New York

Hot spot: Intersection of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue.
Rent: $1,500 per square foot.
State of the market: Wall Street may be melting down a few miles south, but rents on New York's prime retail corridor, Fifth Avenue between 50th and 58th streets, hit a record high this year. With that kind of overhead, some retailers tend to view their stores here as expensive billboards instead of merchandise movers. But others, helped by a crush of European tourists, are raking it in: Tiffany's Fifth Avenue flagship saw sales of $7,500 per gross square foot last year, 10% of the company's total revenue.

2. Bond Street, London

Hot spot: Southern third of the street.
Rent: $860 per square foot.
State of the market: Bond Street - which is technically two streets, New Bond and Old Bond - has been a fashion epicenter for wealthy Londoners since the 18th century; today, everyone from Asprey to Zegna is here. Rents have jumped 50% over the past four years, and Harry Winston's recent move to No. 171 set a record at an estimated $1,340 per square foot for its front-of-store space. Chanel and Dolce & Gabbana hold court in the most desirable stretch, but nearby Conduit and Bruton streets are picking up overflow tenants.

3. Avenue Montaigne, Paris

Hot spot: Even-numbered side of the street between Prada (No. 10) and Gucci (No. 60).
Rent: $660 per square foot.
State of the market: The touristy Champs Élysées fetches higher rents, but Avenue Montaigne, where Christian Dior opened his first couture house in 1946, is the crème de la crème when it comes to high fashion: Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Chloé are all here; Dior still maintains its headquarters at No. 30. The street has seen little turnover since 2006, and there are no available stores larger than 2,150 square feet, which has pushed some stores to nearby Rue Saint-Honoré.

4. Rodeo Drive, Los Angeles

Hot spot: The 300 block between Brighton and Dayton.
Rent: $540 to $850 per square foot.
State of the market: Long before Julia Roberts's famous shopping binge in Pretty Woman, this stretch of Beverly Hills was a fixture, and while rents are up slightly, it's still a relative bargain compared with New York's Fifth Avenue. Stores constantly jockey for better positioning: Mont Blanc is moving to a new space that will triple the size of its façade; Max Mara is relocating too. Newcomers Fred Leighton and Loro Piana will join the strip this fall.

5. Tverskaya Street, Moscow

Hot spot: Manege Square to the Mayakovskya underground station.
Rent: $500 per square foot.
State of the market: Department store rivals GUM and TSUM have long dominated luxury shopping in Moscow, but Tverskaya Street has become the high-end corridor of choice, with names like Escada and Italian shoemaker Vicini competing for the rubles of Moscow's exploding leisure class. Rents are up 10% to 15%; Muscovites also have a new option, the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, where tenants like jeweler Carrera y Carrera are said to pay $650 per square foot, the city's highest rate.

6. Chuo Street, Tokyo

Hot spot: The intersection of Chuo and Marronnier.
Rent: $620 per square foot.
State of the market: Department stores once ruled luxury shopping here in the Ginza district, but Japanese tastes have shifted to individual stores, sending rents on Chuo skyward in the past five years. Leasing activity has slowed, but retailers are still seeking a big presence in a market that purchases 40% of the world's luxury goods. Louis Vuitton will soon have three stores in Ginza; Bulgari's new 62,000-square-foot tower houses its largest retail store.

7. Bloor Street, Toronto

Hot spot: Yonge Street to Avenue Road.
Rent: $300 per square foot.
State of the market: You might not think of luxury when it comes to our neighbors up north, but Toronto is one of the fastest-growing markets, and Bloor Street, known as "Mink Mile," has suddenly hit the radar of luxury retailers. That could be because even though rents have increased 50% in the past year, they are still a relative steal, and tenants can pull in $1,500 to $4,000 per square foot in sales. Coming soon: a new Cartier store and Brooks Brothers, which has plans to open a 25,000-square-foot store.