The standard of living in Singapore is certainly rising and according to Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Singapore climbed 3 places to rank as the 14th most expensive city in the world, overtaking New York's ranking of 15! Four Asian countries are in the world's top ten costliest cities. And we have Seoul at 3rd place, Tokyo at 4th and Hong Kong at 5th- all have been pushed down one place this year.

Raging property prices and climbing transportation pries are the factors that propelled Singapore up the ranks. Be prepared to fork out even more for rents, taxi rides and about everything and anything you can think of.

According to the Edge on the 11th of June, luxury homes in town soared 80% to 90% and rents in well-known residential areas rose 25% to 30%.

It also said that owning several multi-million Good Class Bungalows holds more prestige than ordinary bungalows.

Also known as GCB's, they have a minimum freehold land area of 1,400 square meters with a bungalow not exceeding two storeys and covering only 35% of its total land area- to maintain exclusivity.

The most sought after areas are the Botanic Gardens and Holland road Area. For example Nassim and Leedon Roads.

The average selling price for Q1 2007 was S$577 psf, 15% more than last years.

The number of GCB transactions have dipped slightly but interestingly buyer sentiments and selling prices are on the rise.

What's interesting is asset markets are starting to balloon but consumer prices were maintained.

Data from the Department of Statistics revealed the consumer price Index here rose 1.7%,0.5% and 1% in 2004, 2005 and 2006. It certainly pales in comparison to energy and commodity prices.

It is interesting to think about the prospects of potential or progressive hikes in consumer prices. One way or another, we'll all get used to it sooner or later. For example, most of us are used to the starting cab fare of S$2.50.

Yeo Sue En

Labels: Ahead of New York, Singapore ranked 14th