Daily Briefing: Housing market continues to cool off; Singapore is top choice for retail expansion

And here’s the deal on Singapore’s GDP per person.

Home prices in Singapore fell by 0.49 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015, revealed the latest survey from Global Property Guide. For the entire year, prices fell by 3.06 percent after dropping by 3.97 percent in 2014, said the report, adding that “Singapore’s housing market continues to struggle amidst a slowing economy”. Read more here.

Singapore emerged as the 4th most targeted market in the Asia Pacific region for store expansions, with 21 percent of retailers planning to strengthen their presence there, revealed a CBRE report. “Singapore’s status as a key gateway city continues to attract the attention of global brands, albeit at a more cautious pace,” said Desmond Sim, Head of CBRE Research for Singapore and Southeast Asia. Find out more here.

Global Finance Magazine has published in March 2016 that Singapore has once again claimed the third spot as the world’s richest country. This wealth is measured using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Simply put, it sums up the total value of all products and services produced in a country for the year – to obtain the annual GDP – before dividing it by the country’s population. So how much should the “average” Singapore be making knowing that we are the third richest nation in the world? Read more here.