The continued upward climb of crude oil prices, helped along the way by political unrest in Iran (the world 2nd largest crude oil producer) and Nigeria. Despite a drop in food prices locally, the hike in fuel costs will eventually hit our utilities bill. Singapore’s status as one of the most livable city in South East Asia might just be toppled if we continue along these lines. Despite a controlled currency exchange, the weakened Singapore Dollar did not have much impact on the latest study that shows our little island city in 10th place of the most expensive cities in Asia.

With only Japanese cities of  Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama, Kobe, while Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou are ahead of us, we aren’t far behind. Making Singapore lose out to other Asian cities of Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok.

The impact of the weakening of the US Dollar against many Asian currencies has made Asia a less attractive place to visit as tourists, and expats that are sent here experience reduced disposable income. The only ones that buck this trend is the Korean Won, Malaysian ringgit and the Thai Bhat, which saw Seoul drop to 17th position from most expensive Asian country 2 years ago.

So many of our “ang-moh” expats here in Singapore could very likely be downgrading to condos instead of living in bungalows and semi-detached houses with swimming pools. The US real estate slump has started to affect properties in New York and Hamptons. A sign of changing times.