Singapore knocks Hong Kong off second most expensive Asian spot

A brand new BMW7 Series sedan is priciest in Singapore.

Living in Singapore has become even more expensive, according to the latest wealth report released by private Swiss bank Julius Baer yesterday.

Singapore has overtaken Hong Kong as the second most expensive city in Asia as the latter remains out of favour with Chinese tourists, said the report. Shanghai kept the top spot as the priciest city.

Results are based on Julius Baer's lifestyle index, which measures the costs of luxury living by looking at 20 goods and services across 11 cities in Asia. Survey period was from June 2015 to June 2016.

According to the data, Singapore was the most expensive place to purchase a brand new BMW 7 Series sedan - at about US$430,000 (S$586,774). Shanghai and Hong Kong came next at US$299,615 (S$410,940) and US$253,616 (S$347,850).