CHICAGO—The recent purchase of three buildings on the 600 block of Chicago's N. Michigan Ave. for $295 million by Meyer Bergman is just the latest example of how valuable high street retail has become. According to Main Streets Across the World, a recent global report by Cushman & Wakefield, rental rates on these properties in the US surged 6.9% in just the last year, whereas for the Americas overall rents increased only 2.7%.

"It's apparent that the US has performed much better than the other market areas," Gene Spiegelman, vice chairman and head of retail services, North America at C&W, tells GlobeSt.com. Europe was experiencing setbacks even before the recent terrorist attacks, he says, and "Brazil is in recession at this point."

And high streets have been the best performing retail sector in the US, outpacing shopping centers and other retail in outlying areas. Spiegelman attributes this partly to the growing focus on downtown living and by millennials and a continual stream of high-spending international visitors to hotspots like New York's Fifth Ave. and Palm Beach, FL. New York, for example, had more than 56 million visitors in 2014. "There is a lot of spending going on and it's happening in every city."

"I don't think that rents have gotten out of hand," Spiegelman adds, even with many areas seeing strong growth. Seattle's high street led the US with 27% rent growth, but even so, costs there remain a modest $70 per square foot. And on Chicago's N. Michigan Ave. rents increased 8.2% to $525 per square foot, but C&W expects that in 2016 the rate of increase there could go even higher. Likewise, although Rodeo Dr. in the Los Angeles metro area saw a 23.1% increase, up to $800 per square foot, C&W also forecasts that it may increase faster in 2016.

Still, some areas may soon hit a cap in rents, Spiegelman says. Upper 5th Ave. in New York, the most expensive piece of retail real estate in the US, saw its costs reach $3,500 per square foot, which for the year was a below-average boost of 3.5%. Rents for Lower 5th Ave. went up to $1,000 per square foot, a 2.0% increase, and SoHo rents hit $795 per square foot, a 4.6% increase. And although the vacancy rate in SoHo remains low, its availability rate, or the amount of space that will be available within a year, is getting high, Spiegelman says, about 20%. "Other places outside New York, have a better balance between supply and demand."

One of the reasons high streets in the US perform better than other retail sectors is that they are somewhat protected from e-commerce, Spiegelman adds. Even if a company chooses to go big on e-commerce, it would probably still consider it very desirable to have a brick-and-mortar location on a top high street. "This is where retailers are going to try out new concepts." He points out that Best Buy recently debuted Chloe, the company's new robotic arm which retrieves items for customers as they tap on touch screens, at its Manhattan flagship store. "You are exposed to millions of pairs of eyes every year."

Overall, Spiegelman expects rental growth in 2016 will look a lot like what the market saw in 2015. "It's not overheating in any way shape or form."

However, "what we can't forget is what happened in Paris," he says, and that terrorist attacks or other outside factors can upset forecasts. It's not known yet how these recent events will impact the economies of Europe, international travel and ultimately the US. Spiegelman was in Paris last week for a conference and is hopeful. "It was a somber atmosphere; but I saw a strong conviction among many to go on."