Chart of the Day: This graph shows Singapore Grade A rents are creeping away from Hong Kong's rate

It's the biggest gap in 20 years.

It might be hard to believe, but apparently, there's still something very affordable in Singapore. And no, it's not food or basic necessity--it's an office space. Big-time international IT companies in the likes of Facebook and LinkedIn are setting up their camps in Singapore CBD because it's affordable.

According to CIMB's Cost of Living survey, Grade A rents remain at 40% below their previous peak, and 47% cheaper than that of Hong Kong - the widest discount seen in the past two decades.

Here's more from CIMB:

While major financial institutions are expected to remain cautious on expansion plans, we expect incremental demand from IT and smaller occupiers.

Facebook and LinkedIn are international IT companies that have set up offices in Singapore within the CBD. We believe that affordability is a key attraction for Singapore, as a location for regional headquarters, with average grade A rents below the likes of Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

Cost of living (even for expatriates) in Singapore is largely a choice, dependent on one’s lifestyle. We asked foreigners not living in Singapore to rank these cities – New York, London, Paris, Oslo, Copenhagen, Zurich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney.

Comparing Singapore to these cities, most foreigners ranked Singapore in the second quartile (56%) or the top (39%), in terms of cost of living.

However, the response changed considerably when asked to consider the cost of living for a junior executive on a tight budget.

Most of the respondents (59%) said that Singapore is in the top two quartiles in terms of affordability, and only 41% said that it is a city that they can barely get by in.

We believe this is caused by the prevalence of low cost alternatives for food and lodging. Clearly, the survey results show that even foreigners know that the cost of living here, is a function of choice and lifestyle (i.e. restaurants vs. food courts, taxi vs. public transport, housing in the central region vs. out of central region).

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