By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
The drastic depreciation of the won against other major currencies is helping foreigners paid in dollars to save on rental costs here, a survey revealed.
According to the latest survey by Mercer, Seoul is the world's 16th most expensive city to live in. It was 11th in the previous survey, conducted six months ago.
"Currency fluctuations have caused significant changes in Seoul's ranking," Grace Cha, a spokeswoman of Mercer Korea, said in a statement, Friday.
Mercer said the won has dropped by nearly 30 percent over the past few months.
A currency value drop contributed to the export-driven recovery from the Asian financial crisis, but analysts note the current export slump has been caused largely by collapsing demand in the West, where economies are sliding deeper into recession.
Six Asian cities dominated the top 10 most expensive cities for expatriates, according to the survey by the consulting firm of housing costs and practices for employees sent on overseas assignments.
Tokyo is the second most expensive city for expatriates globally, up from third place in 2008 because of an appreciation of around 17 percent in the value of the yen against the greenback since September last year.
Hong Kong moved down one place to third, while Mumbai, Beijing and New Delhi were fourth, sixth and eighth, respectively. Due to weakening demand, Singapore ranked 10th ― down one notch since 2008, the study showed.
"The world's housing markets have been sliding since 2008, and strong currency fluctuations in the past few months have also had a strong impact on the comparative cost of expatriate housing," Cha said.
The Russian capital city of Moscow has been ranked the most expensive city. New York and London were positioned as fifth and ninth.
But Mercer was expecting rental prices to decrease as unemployment and other economic factors begin to influence the housing market.
"Looking ahead over the next few months, we are seeing a general decline in rental prices due to the economic slowdown," Marie-Laurence Sepede, a senior research manager at the firm, said.
From a survey of 300 cities globally, Mercer has produced a rental property index of the 50 most popular cities for expatriate assignments.
Data is based on typical rents for one to four bedroom apartments and three to four bedroom houses, furnished and unfurnished.