AIRINC (Associates for International Research, Inc.)

Singapore’s expatriate rental market is relatively stable despite more assignee departures than arrivals. While supply is greater than demand, sources say most incoming expatriates want to live in apartments close to MRT and schools. Many landlords of desirable apartments can continue to charge listed rents for now.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the overwhelming majority of housing surveys I’ve conducted revealed similar impacts on expatriate rental markets. In countries all around the world, the sudden and significant decline in demand has either pushed prices down or allowed for increased negotiability from listing prices. However, there has been one notable exception to that trend – Turkey.

While many parts of the world are struggling to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, Wuhan is now back to business as usual. The lockdown was lifted in April and there have been no local cases since May.

In May 2020, I conducted a remote housing survey of Stockholm. I read extensively about Sweden’s herd-immunity approach to COVID-19 and how the government is not enforcing business closures.

The term “Third Culture Kids” refers to children raised in a culture other than their parents' or the culture of the country named on their passport. You may not have heard of this term before, but many children can find themselves in this situation – job opportunities, especially in the technical or engineering field, are often global and expatriation is common. 

Over six months after the first COVID-19 case was reported, countries across the world are still adjusting to the new “normal.” After conducting almost thirty real estate interviews across nine Asian cities, the difference in city positioning, restrictions, capacity, and others’ perception of each city is stark, and the executive segments of these markets are responding differently.

I arrived early in the morning at Kinshasa’s N'djili International Airport this past January 29th on a connecting flight from Addis Ababa. Upon arrival, I expected the same chaos that I experienced during my previous surveys in 2003 and 2008, but I was pleasantly surprised.

On my most recent trip, I surveyed Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital and most populous city in Tanzania. While conducting my survey, I observed that several areas have developed in order to cater to expatriate needs. While overall availability of goods and services is consistent, certain categories are lacking and require purchases to be made on home leave or through travel to nearby international cities, like Nairobi.

The decision to move the Nigerian capital from Lagos to Abuja was made in 1976. However, after many years of planning, development, and construction, Abuja finally replaced Lagos as the political capital in 1991.

Before my trip to Brazil, I heard both positive and negative impressions of the country. Since it was my first time visiting, I was interested to see which kind of experience I’d have. It ended up being a bit of both.