The Wall Street Journal, 25 Mar 2009, TOM WRIGHT
SINGAPORE -- On almost any major street of this affluent Southeast Asian city-state, cranes tower overhead -- a reminder of an incredible three-year building boom that now is turning into a bust.
Residential property prices rose 60% between 2005 and the middle of 2008, fueled by a massive influx of U.S., European and Asian expatriates drawn by Singapore's goal of reinventing itself as a financial and entertainment hub like Dubai or Monte Carlo.
The global financial crisis has shattered that vision. Many of those foreign bankers and lawyers -- now without work amid Singapore's sharpest economic contraction ever -- are returning home, weighing on demand just as a slew of new luxury properties are nearing completion.
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