Cost of living in Singapore is said to be among the highest in the world. According to the latest Mercer worldwide cost of living survey for 2009, Singapore ranked 10th globally and is 5th in Asia.
Singapore maintains its top 10 ranking among the world’s most expensive cities for expatriate housing, but drops one place to 10th due to weakening demand. ASEAN cities have become relatively more expensive compared to the rest of the world with Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Bangkok all climbing up the rankings. Jakarta rises seven places from 41st to 34th, Manila moves up five places from 45th to 40th, Bangkok climbs four places from 48th to 44th and Kuala Lumpur picks up one position to 36th. Puneet Swani, Mercer’s Head of Information Product Solutions for ASEAN commented: “Higher rankings do not necessarily indicate that property prices have increased. Apart from Singapore, rental prices in most ASEAN cities have in fact remained the same or decreased marginally. They remain comparatively stable compared to sharp falls in American and European cities, which accounts for the relatively higher rankings of ASEAN cities this year. Singapore’s drop in ranking is a reflection of a strong decline in property prices, hardest hit in the ASEAN region by the current economic crisis.”
“Despite falling property rental costs in most of ASEAN, the difficult economic situation will still likely result in an overall decrease in expatriate assignments across the region. That said, ASEAN as a region continues to grow and remains a relatively good area for multinationals to invest and grow their business during this downturn.”
Swani added: “It will be interesting to see what 2010 brings for the housing market in ASEAN, but if current conditions are any indication, we may see Singapore continue to move down, with other ASEAN countries either maintaining the same position or moving up marginally in ranking”.
“Despite falling property rental costs in most of ASEAN, the difficult economic situation will still likely result in an overall decrease in expatriate assignments across the region. That said, ASEAN as a region continues to grow and remains a relatively good area for multinationals to invest and grow their business during this downturn.”
Swani added: “It will be interesting to see what 2010 brings for the housing market in ASEAN, but if current conditions are any indication, we may see Singapore continue to move down, with other ASEAN countries either maintaining the same position or moving up marginally in ranking”.
