Perception usually lags reality. Case-in-point. Recently a survey by HSBC caused quite a stir in the media when it reported that Singapore is the second most-expensive city for foreign undergraduates. This survey led some to conclude that Singapore’s losing its allure as an education hub. Also, in response to the survey, some analysts have suggested rising rents around universities are a contributing factor to this high cost. Renters, landlords, real estate agents, property investors, and university undergraduates can take two lessons from this case. First, make sure you validate the sources that you’re using to make Singapore property decisions. In this case, be careful what conclusions you draw from the HSBC survey. For example, the cost-of-living in the HSBC survey jumped from US$ 9,363 to US$ 20,292 in one year. The reason for this dramatic difference appears to be that HSBC changed its source for measuring cost-of-living. This year, it relied on information from the expatriate portal Expatistan; whereas, the year before, HSBC sourced cost data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).... Continue Reading