Rental Blues in the City

A close friend was just gripping about the escalating rental situation in Singapore. Apparently the demand for apartments is stripping the limited supply available and to think the IRs are not even being built yet!

Hong Kong apartments most expensive to rent
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 23, 2007

SINGAPORE: Hong Kong's high-end apartments are the world's most expensive to rent, followed by those in Tokyo and New York, reflecting the high living costs in those cities, according to a survey on expatriate accommodations.

An "executive" three-bedroom apartment in Hong Kong costs more than $8,500 a month to rent, said the report, released Tuesday by ECA International, a human resources consultancy in Britain. Rents for typical expatriate apartments in Hong Kong rose by an average of 10 percent last year and 15 percent in 2005, thanks to the Chinese territory's robust economic growth, said Lee Quane, general manager of ECA International's office in Hong Kong. In addition, the gap between Hong Kong and other cities was widening, he said.

The survey compared rental prices in 92 locations worldwide, the firm said. Tokyo rents for expatriates averaged $7,358 a month. In New York, rents averaged $7,249. Moscow was ranked the fourth-most expensive rental city, at $6,526 a month, followed by Seoul, London, Mumbai and Shanghai, the survey found. Caracas was ranked ninth because, Quane said, expatriates there need to live in high-security compounds for safety reasons. Paris ranked 10th in the survey.The cheapest location of the 92 cities examined was Nairobi, where a three-bedroom apartment cost about $1,000 a month, the survey said. -- IHT