Young Singaporeans rent homes in Bangkok, KL and Guangxi to escape rising costs and stress
Rising property prices and burnout are driving young Singaporeans to rent homes overseas in Thailand, Malaysia and China. One social media manager pays S$600 a month for a Bangkok apartment, while a couple earns S$2,300 net monthly after renting out their HDB flat and moving to a larger house in Sel
Young Singaporeans are increasingly renting homes abroad — from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur to Guangxi, China — to escape high living costs, workplace burnout and the pressure of the city-state's property market. The trend has been aided by greater workplace flexibility and lower expenses in neighbouring countries, according to a report by The Straits Times.
One example is 30-year-old social media manager Chin, who signed a one-year lease for a S$600-a-month apartment in Bangkok last November, after having earlier rented a 31 sq m unit there for S$1,000 a month. She splits her time between Singapore and Bangkok, spending about two weeks in each location while working as a freelance content creator. She holds a Destination Thailand Visa, a five-year multiple-entry visa launched in July 2024 that allows digital nomads and freelancers to stay long-term.
Chin, who owns a four-room resale flat in Punggol with her husband, says the arrangement gives her space to recharge. 'Burnout was one thing, but more crucially, I was constantly comparing myself with my peers and I think the pressure was getting overwhelming,' she said. She does not plan to stay in Bangkok permanently but expects to extend her lease until the end of 2027.
The number of Singaporeans living abroad grew from about 213,000 in 2016 to more than 221,000 by end-2025, according to the Department of Statistics. A popular destination is Malaysia, where interest in the Malaysia My Second Home programme has surged. Data from Asia Home Services shows applicants soared from 1,902 in December 2024 to 12,495 in March 2026. The number of applicants from Singapore quadrupled from 96 to 383 over the same period.
For some, the move is also a financial calculation. Jim Ng, 31, and his wife Catheryn Wong, 32, rent a 250 sq m two-storey house in the gated township of Gamuda Cove in Selangor for S$900 a month. They rent out their three-room HDB flat in Singapore for S$3,200 a month, leaving them with a net gain of about S$2,300. 'Our tenant pays for a landed house we could never dream of affording back home,' Ng said. However, he noted trade-offs: the nearest police station is many kilometres away, and law enforcement confidence is lower than in Singapore.
Singapore’s rising property prices are a key driver. HDB resale prices jumped 9.5% in 2024 and 4% in 2025. Million-dollar resale flats hit a record 1,594 units in 2025, 54% higher than the previous peak of 1,035 units in 2024, according to PropNex head of research Wong Siew Ying. The average price of flats transacted at S$1 million or more rose 2.1% to S$1.14 million last year, said Huttons Asia senior director Lee Sze Teck.
For some, the overseas option is about more than cost. Civil servant Tanya Ong, 32, lived in Nakhon Pathom, 90 minutes from central Bangkok, between March 2024 and September 2025. 'Living overseas exposed me to a wider range of people from different backgrounds that helped shape how I thought about living a meaningful life,' she said.
