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Sea level rise risks, adaptation strategies, and real estate prices in Singapore

Author

Listed:
  • Agarwal, Sumit
  • Qin, Yu
  • Sing, Tien Foo
  • Zhan, Changwei

Abstract

This study exploits the Singapore Prime Minister’s announcement of the areas affected by sea level rise (SLR) within the country and its adaptation strategies valued at 100 billion Singapore dollars. Utilizing transaction-level data with exact locations, we find that public housing prices dropped by 7.2% in SLR areas four years after the announcement relative to non-SLR areas. In SLR areas with adaptation, the price depreciation was mitigated to 0.6%. In the private housing sector, freehold properties benefit more from adaptation strategies than leasehold properties. We calibrate the long-term discount rates before and after the shock at 2.27% and 2.14% in SLR areas and 2.35% and 2.12% in SLR areas with adaptation, respectively. (JEL H43, R21, R28, R38, R51, Q54)

Suggested Citation

  • Agarwal, Sumit & Qin, Yu & Sing, Tien Foo & Zhan, Changwei, 2025. "Sea level rise risks, adaptation strategies, and real estate prices in Singapore," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:241:y:2025:i:c:s0047272724002263
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105290
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change; Sea level rise; Property prices; Government announcement; Discount rate;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R28 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Government Policy
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy
    • R51 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Finance in Urban and Rural Economies
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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