Words From Editor

After a thorough analysis of the information collected by our group, we conclude that the problems faced by developed countries are very different from what is faced by developing countries.

The following is a brief analysis of the similarities and differences in the housing situations in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Burma and Pakistan.

Developed Countries (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore)

"With development and economic progress, high housing prices are inevitable."

The most common problem faced in developed countries is the high housing prices.

The reasons for the high housing prices are often very similar in developed countries, as well as the urban areas of developing countries.

1) Land Shortage

In the central of Taiwan, Taipei's housing prices have been increasing at an exponential rate. Due to the job opportunities in Taipei, Taiwanese tend to rent, or even buy, properties in Taipei for convenience. This causes the demand for housing in Taipei to exceed the supply. With the limited land space in Taipei, this forces the market prices of housing to increase at a rapid rate.

Similarly, this problem is also present in Singapore and Hong Kong. The land shortage problem is, however, much more serious in Singapore and Hong Kong, which are way smaller than Taiwan. Hence, the housing prices in Singapore and Hong Kong increase at a much faster rate than that of Taipei.

2) Increase in Population

The increase in population serves as a big problem in small countries like Singapore and Hong Kong, worsening the land shortage situation mentioned in the previous paragraph.

After re-nationalization of Hong Kong, many Mainland Chinese choose to migrate to Hong Kong for the better education opportunities and the Hong Kong citizenship. Being an economic hub of Asia, Hong Kong receives many foreign expats every year too, greatly increasing the number of people in the small country.

Singapore, being in the same situation as Hong Kong, receives many foreign immigrants every year to work. According to the population statistics from the Singapore government in 2011, out of a total population of 5.183million in Singapore, 1.394million are non-residents. This number has been increasing for the past 10 years, worsening the housing situation in Singapore.

The urban areas of Burma (Myanmar) also face the same situation as the developed countries. The influx of foreign entrepreneurs and investors caused the housing prices to rise to a price that is unaffordable to average Burmese citizens.

3) Speculation

Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan all face the problem of speculation in the property market where investors buy the houses and resell them at a much higher price in order to make a profit. This causes the market forces to drive up the property prices.

However, it should be mentioned that the problem of speculation is less evident in the public housing sector of Singapore due to the many eligibility conditions that Singaporeans need to meet before they are able to buy public housing.

The policies employed in developed countries to "cool down" the property market are also very similar.

Effective policies employed by Taiwan and Singapore are set with a aim of reducing speculation in the property market.

• In Taiwan, a luxury tax is imposed on the resale of a property bought within certain number of years, reducing the profitability of speculation in the property market.
• For Singapore, the strict eligibility conditions prevent one from owning too many houses at any one point of time, hence, reducing speculation in the market.

 In our group's opinion, Hong Kong can consider the policies in Singapore and Taiwan to prevent speculation in the property market. With stricter policies governing the resale of flats, there would not be additional speculation in the market to drive up the property prices.

Restricting the number of properties that are sold to foreigners is also a good policy adopted by the Hong Kong government in an attempt to cool the property market.

However, while many policies have been implemented in developed countries, property prices are still rising at a faster rate than the income of the citizens.

Developing Countries (Pakistan and Burma)

While developed countries face high housing prices, the developing countries face the problem of poor living conditions.

The reasons behind the poor living conditions in Pakistan and Burma are very different.

The outskirts of the urban areas of Pakistan faces the problem of slums. Slum formation is due to the rapid rural-urban migration, with reasons very much similar to the developed countries (for better job opportunities). Due to the lack of affordable housing for a population that is way too big for the urban cities to handle, slums begin to form. The statistics from "homeless-internation.org" revealed a shocking fact, 48% of Pakistan's urban population lives in slums.  

On the other hand, the poor housing conditions in the rural of Burma is mainly due to political instability. With the high frequency of civil war happening, people have to nomad frequently, not having a chance to settle down.

Burma also faces the problem of land confiscations. Villagers are often forced to move, with little or no compensation, in order to construct dams or for business purposes.

As compared to the developed countries, the reasons behind the housing problems in developing countries vary from country to country. However, the attitudes of the governments are very similar. Indifference. Little is done about the poor housing conditions in the developing countries due to the indifferent attitude of the governments.

A take home message for all

As a country progresses economically, it opens up its economy to the free market forces and welcomes foreign investment. In such a scenario, our group feels that high housing prices are inevitable. The only thing the governments of developed countries can do is to implement policies to slow down the rate of price increase.

However, while the citizens of developed countries are complaining about high housing prices, is it time to stop and think about the poor housing conditions in developing countries? Furthermore, nothing is done to rectify the conditions.