Daily Briefing: Home prices to remain depressed; Myths about Singapore’s wage growth

And here’s the deal on construction in Singapore.

Knight Frank Singapore research head Alice Tan expects new home prices to drop by three to five percent in 2016, while projects with many unsold units may lower prices even more. ECs have seen average prices fall from a high of more than $800 psf in H1 2015 to $780 psf in H2 2015, noted R'ST research director Ong Kah Seng, adding that average prices of ECs could drop next year to $750 to $780 psf. Read more here.

Recently, we read that Singapore’s full-time median wage has grown by 4.7% to $3,949. This includes Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions by employers. If we were to exclude CPF contributions, the gross wage would be $3,467 as reported by Ministry of Manpower’s “Report: Singapore Workforce, 2015”. In our competitive nation, we tend to benchmark our success based on the wages that we are earning. The competitive nature has led to many envies and myth creation. These myths are creating a crack in our nation, which divides the rich and poor. Find out more here.

Singapore is the third most expensive Asian city to build in after Hong Kong and Macau, according to the latest International Construction Costs Index published by Arcadis, a global design and consultancy firm for natural and built assets. Globally, Singapore is ranked 10th. New York is the world's most expensive city for construction, followed by London and Hong Kong. Read more here.