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Why Singaporean buyers are lured to overseas property market

Just across the water, north-west of Singapore, a new metropolis is taking shape. According CIMB, now that Khazanah (Malaysia’s government investment arm) have jumped into the fray and that international schools are springing up, Iskandar has taken a major shot of credibility to the arm. Along with the new schools, decent(ish) infrastructure and bungalows, such as the Horizon Hills development currently going for around S$230 (US$184) per square foot (as opposed to Singapore’s District 10, currently running at an average of S$2,000 per square foot), Iskandar is beginning to look particularly attractive. In the April-May 2013 issue of Property Life magazine we look at houses, or landed properties as they are otherwise known, and compares and contrasts what bang can be bought for your buck. With London and Tokyo running at over US$2,400 per square foot, a million greenbacks doesn’t really get you much more than a one-bedroom apartment, whereas in Sydney, it will get you a reasonably sized four-bedroom house, just a walking distance from the iconic Opera House. The year 2013 is shaping up to be an interesting year in the global property markets. The USA is rebounding and there is wealth of excellent inventory on sale at rock-bottom prices. London is still on the up, and plainly an excellent investment opportunity. Australian Property Monitors reports that the national average house price in the country rose 2.1% in 2012, reversing much of the 3.6% decline of 2011 – and it’s projected to continue in that direction this year too. With the cooling measures kicking in in Singapore, overseas property has never looked quite so attractive and with low mortgage rates, finance has never been cheaper. However, caveat emptor is even more relevant now than ever; according to The Daily Mail, ‘Harlequin Resorts, which apparently now looks derelict and nothing like the promotional materials... seems to have preyed on 3,000 Britons, who have fallen victim to a £250 million (US$380 million) fantasy villa fiasco that was promoted by Pat Cash and is now being investigated by UK fraud police.’

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Why Singaporean buyers are lured to overseas property market

Commentary

The secret that makes copy-pasting a successful business

Copy-Paste (CP), the most commonly used Information Technology (IT) action, frowned upon for its lack of ingenuity and the sense of shameless pilferage. It would be a faux pas to believe that CP is a new idea born of IT while the moot point here is CP as a concept is agnostic of its pertinence to any particular industry.

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How local firms will be hit by Singapore's new labour laws

With the announcement of Singapore Budget 2013, and the Wage Credit Scheme (WCS) as its centerpiece, no doubt Singaporeans are going to feel the ripples differently depending on where you stand. In this article, I will be sharing my thoughts as a small Food & Beverage (F&B) entrepreneur, as well as a Singapore citizen.

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How Chinese culture can convince Singapore staff to be team players

‘Teams’ has long been a popular concept in the workplace, as it’s common sense that “two heads are better than one” and “many hands make light the work”. However, people don’t always work together well, whether in their families, on sports teams or in the workplace. Thus, encouraging your people to function efficiently with colleagues presents an on-going conundrum for managers. This blog offers two concepts from Chinese culture that may help.

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What sustainable business really needs in Singapore

In such a geographically constrained city-state, it’s hard not to notice and hear about the population growth planned for Singapore: from 4.5 million in 2007 when I arrived to 5.3 million by June 2012 with plans for 6.9 million within the next decade. This population level is what the Singapore government has determined the country needs to sustain its economy, bringing in the necessary skills and labor to support it.

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How Singapore bosses should play catch-up with job-hopping employees

We’ve seen a recent array of articles bemoaning the short-term attitudes of staff in organisations across Singapore. The anecdotes of the recent years of a mobile workforce who are only interested in the next role have now materialised in hard data provided by JobsDB[i], and it’s not pretty reading for companies who want long-term commitment from their employees.

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Is a design degree necessary in Singapore's marketplace today?

Contrary to what many designers and aspiring designers believe, some form of higher learning qualification is very important in today’s job market. Employers are looking for designers with good qualifications so the better the qualifications you have the more chance you have of landing your dream job.

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5 ways to get Singapore's C-suite members to listen to you

Talking to members of the C-suite and senior management can be stressful, but it can be the difference between a successful career and a go-nowhere job. When face time is limited, how do you make the most of these conversations?

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5 lessons in managing outsourcing or relocating for Singapore SMEs

Busineses, don’t do everything themselves - they outsource or relocate.

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How weak willpower will ruin Singaporeans' decision-making at work

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How Singapore HR should best resolve disputes in workplaces

Dispute resolution should not only be the responsibility of HR. Line managers should be well versed in handling difficult situations or else organisations risk being viewed by their employees as faceless.

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What Singapore bosses must know to make themselves attractive

The well-known saying “Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus” is apt, especially when it comes to defining the most important factors when looking for a new work environment.

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How women in Singapore can get better education benefits

By Ms Tan Gek Khim, PBM, Senior Director of MDIS

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How Singapore businesses can really be responsible

Since the emergence of the modern corporation at the turn of last century, the debate on whether and how business can be responsible has never seem to end. Indeed, there is not even a consensus.

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Why shale gas is Singapore's latest game changer

Singapore, like the rest of the world, faces a new paradigm for energy supply and even more important the energy supply chain – exploration, exploitation/extraction, transport, grid, pollution, carbon dioxide emissions. Shale gas is the game changer, but to a lesser extent than presumed and resulting in changes different from those original expected.

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Why letting employees work from home is a big business gain

There has been more than a storm in a tea cup following Marissa Mayer’s directive for people to show up in the Yahoo offices and cut back on working from home. Her decision needs to be viewed in the context of Yahoo’s stage in their journey as a business and more importantly as a new team that is trying to rally around a new strategy. Trying to generalise the decision will meaninglessly dilute both what Yahoo is attempting and the issue of flexible working conditions. The issue needs to be viewed and assessed in line with each individual business and also within the concerned societal framework.

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Attracting and retaining mature-age workers in Singapore

Many of the mature-age job seekers Randstad speaks with express concern about the difficulty faced when they try to find a new job. Time and time again we hear them say the chances of recruitment are low and they are often expected to take a pay cut.

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