http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...asing-20130511

Household size increasing

Published on May 11, 2013


MORE people have to share accommodation because the population is growing faster than the stock of housing, according to a property firm.

Jones Lang LaSalle Southeast Asia research head Chua Yang Liang said the average household size was 4.2 people in 2000 but that grew to 4.4 people last year.

There are about 1.2 million housing units islandwide, with 77 per cent of that public housing.

Dr Chua added that Singapore will need more offices and retail space to cater to the lifestyle and demands of a rising proportion of professionals, managers, executives and technicians in coming years.

These were among the topics experts touched on at a workshop on Tuesday organised by STProperty, Singapore Press Holding's online property site.

Colliers International research and advisory director Chia Siew Chuin spoke about the blurring boundaries between office space and industrial business 1 (B1) space.

The workshop, which was held at The Star Gallery in Buona Vista, was well attended, with all 700 tickets sold in just three weeks. It was the first such large-scale workshop where real estate professionals can earn Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit hours, STProperty said in a statement.

CPD refers to professional training. Real estate agents must undertake six hours of such training a year in order to retain their right to work in real estate.