Singapore—According to a new report from real estate firm CBRE, Singapore ranked as the second-most expensive city in the world to buy a house in 2018 again.

Hong Kong also kept its place on the top of the list. In third place is Shanghai, making the top three most expensive cities all having Asian locations.

Vancouver, Shenzhen, Los Angeles, New York, London, Beijing, and Paris round off the rest of the top 10.

The price of an average residential property in Hong Kong is US$1.235 million (approximately S$ 1.67 million). Singapore, where it’s at US $ 874,372 (approximately S$ 1,185,740) does not differ much from Shanghai, where it’s at US $ 872,555 (approximately S$ 1,183,172).

CBRE examines the housing markets in 35 global cities, comparing investment residential properties. According to Desmond Sim, CBRE South-east Asia’s head of research, the report is based on prime residential locations since they are the ones preferred by expatriates.”

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TODAY reports that for Singapore, Mr Sim says, ‘the prime market refers to the core central region, or districts 9, 10 and 11.”

Singapore gets high overall marks on the CBRE report, which says “A leading global financial centre in South-Eastern Asia, Singapore has a tropical climate and is one of the cleanest environments in the world. It is recognised as the most technology-ready country on earth and ranks highly for education, safety, innovation, quality of life, health, transport, and international trading.”

The report also includes the following facts about Singapore:

— the average property price in 2018 was US $ 874,372 (approximately S$ 1,185,740)

— the average full-time salary in 2018 was US $ 37,001 (approximately S$ 50,170.)

— the average monthly rent in 2018 was US $ 1,935 (approximately S$ 2,620)

— there were 16,499 completed housing projects in 2018

— the house price growth rose 1.1 percent in last year

— GDP growth was 3.6 percent last year

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Interestingly, the report also lists two seemingly unrelated facts: the price of cappuccino US$3.42 (approximately S$ 4.64), as well as the average monthly preschool fee US$689 (approximately S$934).

The Business Times reports Mr Sim as saying, “As a financial hub, Singapore is known for its skilled talent, ease of doing business, top-notch infrastructure, as well as economic and political stability.

Singapore has always been an attractive location for multinational companies to establish their regional headquarters. These factors influence the cost of property ownership in the city.”

He also noted that property prices in Singapore are “relatively affordable” in comparison to that of Hong Kong. He added that The average price growth in Singapore last year was “one of the lowest” among cities.

He said, “To prevent cost of living from becoming too prohibitive for citizens, the Singapore Government has since introduced a series of property curbs to cool the housing market. As a result, price growth has declined for the second straight quarter in Q1 2019 after five consecutive quarters of strong growth since Q3 2017.”

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Read related: About 20,000 Singaporean households avail housing grants since 2015

https://theindependent.sg.sg/about-20000-singaporean-households-avail-housing-grants-since-2015/