Singapore Expats

Hi folks
We are a Swiss family with two children (8 and 10), living outside of Zurich, Switzerland. I am currently working as an in-house counsel in a Swiss bank and I have been offered a job in our Singapore branch as an expat for at least two years. The idea would be to move to Singapore in July. The kids would start the new term at the Swiss School in Singapore in August. Now here is the problem: We would like to live somewhere in the vincinity of the Swiss School. Browsing through the property rental classifieds I was deeply shocked! We are currently living in a house (4 bdr) and we would actually like to get something similar. We are calculating with S$ 7'000-8'000 for housing per month. Is this unrealistic ? Can anybody tell me if District 21 is a good neighborhood? Is it possible to get a decent house for this price? If not, what kind of condo do you get ?
Furthermore, I was told that rental prices in Singapore are coming down quite a bit due to the financial crisis. Can you confirm this ?
Thx for your help!

friends of ours just signed a deal on a house on 6th avenue for less than $6K. they viewed a number of houses in the vicinity under 7K, so it is possible. maybe will get even cheaper later in the year.

Gringo wrote:Hi folks
We are a Swiss family with two children (8 and 10), living outside of Zurich, Switzerland. I am currently working as an in-house counsel in a Swiss bank and I have been offered a job in our Singapore branch as an expat for at least two years. The idea would be to move to Singapore in July. The kids would start the new term at the Swiss School in Singapore in August. Now here is the problem: We would like to live somewhere in the vincinity of the Swiss School. Browsing through the property rental classifieds I was deeply shocked! We are currently living in a house (4 bdr) and we would actually like to get something similar. We are calculating with S$ 7'000-8'000 for housing per month. Is this unrealistic ? Can anybody tell me if District 21 is a good neighborhood? Is it possible to get a decent house for this price? If not, what kind of condo do you get ?
Furthermore, I was told that rental prices in Singapore are coming down quite a bit due to the financial crisis. Can you confirm this ?
Thx for your help!

Welcome to Singapore !

Your timing to come to Singapore is both good and bad.
To predict anything accurate now what will happen until july is impossible, but you have a very good chance that rental prices are coming down drastically.
They have started already sliding down now, especially for the higher rent properties.

Your district 21, especially near Swiss School is one of the most expensive areas in Singapore, especially for houses.
Needless to say, it is one of the most beautiful one with some of the most expensive houses in it but if you don't have a car, it is a bit secluded.

The supply of houses (landed property) in Singapore is due to its scarcity of land much less then apartments (condos), so that explains the cost.

If you can get a deal to stay in a Serviced Apartment for the first month, that would get you enough time to go around and look for yourself for your dream place.

Do not exclude a nice condo from your plans, they come cheaper and have a guarantee of a swimming pool and other facilities such as gym etc.
and are sometimes more convenient for shopping/socializing then a house.

A condo of decent size is already now within your budget and by july even more.

by the way, I am Swiss myself and have been living in Singapore for 15 years.

Thank you guys for your notes! Your replies are encouraging.

Get a rental condo,about 4.5 to 5k. You can had 3bed room+1 study room condo.