Tag Archives: Singapore

S’pore third as City of Opportunity

Singapore has been ranked third – up four positions from last year – in PwC’s sixth edition of its Cities of Opportunity report.

For the first time, London posted the highest score in the 30 cities studied by PwC. The U.K. capital is the only city to finish first in three of the 10 indicators – economic clout, city gateway and technology readiness, a category it ties with Seoul – and was followed by New York and Singapore.

The study showed that top ranked cities embody the energy, opportunity and hope that draw people to city life. High performing cities also find the right balance between social and economic strengths in a world being quickly shaped by inescapable global trends.

Moving up four spots from the last edition, Singapore took third place overall and finishes first in two indicators – ease of doing business and transportation and infrastructure.

Despite not having a top rank in any indicator, New York continues to show strong consistency across most of the categories. Rounding out the top five cities are Toronto and San Francisco.

“Changing demographics, shifts in economic power and the concepts of urbanization being realised are the forces taking the world in a new direction,” said Bob Moritz, PwC’s U.S. Chairman and Senior Partner.

“Cities are increasingly competing for talent and are working hard to capture the promise of growth from the many opportunities in today’s rapidly changing world. As a result, people are looking for more potential for personal opportunity while demanding critical elements to increase quality of life. It’s the top ranking cities in this year’s study that are demonstrating the foresight that is needed to adapt, stay competitive and thrive for a sustainable positive future.”

Cities of Opportunity 6 also highlighted the increasing competitiveness of emerging cities across several key indicators. Beijing, which ranked 19th, finishes in the top three in both the city gateway and economic clout categories, while Seoul is top in technology readiness and is the only emerging city to reach the top 10 in the ease of doing business indicator. Seoul and Buenos Aires also break into the top three for transportation and infrastructure, while Johannesburg is in the top three for cost.

The full report is available at http://www.pwc.com/cities.

The methodology for Cities of Opportunity is based on publicly available data, using three main sources: global multilateral development organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund; national statistics organisations, such as National Statistics in the UK and the Census Bureau in the U.S.; and commercial data providers. The data was collected during the third and fourth quarters of 2013. Besides adding Jakarta, Nairobi, and Rio de Janeiro to the study, PwC also replaced Abu Dhabi with Dubai which brought the study to 30 cities total, the largest to date. The scoring methodology was developed to facilitate transparency and simplicity for readers, as well as comparability across cities.

Source : Property Guru

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Buying costs in SIngapore among highest in the world

The costs of buying a property in Singapore are, along with Hong Kong, among the most expensive in the world for non-residents.

New research from Knight Frank looked at the purchase costs associated with buying a new-build residential property in 15 prime property locations around the world.

Hong Kong is the most expensive location to buy a home, once all the associated costs have been factored in. Non-residents can expect to pay 25 percent on top of the purchase price when buying a new-build US$3 million home. The bulk of this consists of stamp duty costs and a property tax levied on foreign non-permanent residents.

In Singapore, buyers pay purchase costs of 19.3 percent. The city-state’s 18 percent rate of stamp duty for non-residents is the highest of all the world cities analysed in the Cost of Buying report, in which analysis compared the purchase costs for non-resident buyers purchasing a new-build property valued at US$3 million. This includes stamp duty, legal costs, transfer fees and agency fees (where these apply for the purchaser).

London and Sydney sit in third and fourth places respectively with buying costs making 7.9 percent and 7.2 percent of the total purchase price in each city respectively. Moscow, where buying costs for non-residents for a US$3 million property amount to just US$100, is the cheapest of the 15 locations surveyed.

Despite being one of the more expensive locations to buy a new-build home, London property remains popular with international investors who are attracted by the U.K.’s political stability, good communications and the city’s top schools.

The research showed that 73 percent of prime central London’s new-build homes in 2012 were bought by overseas buyers, with Singaporeans making up the largest proportion of international purchasers.

In New York there is no stamp duty, but the purchase of a US$3 million new-build condominium will incur a 1 percent mansion tax.

Buying a US$3 million home in Paris is relatively low-cost. There are registration and notary fees to be paid, but it is cheaper to buy a luxury home in the city compared to other traditional locations.

Source – PropertyGuru – 5 Jul 2013