The annual report of the Straits Settlements Colonial Engineer contains some interesting comparisons of building costs in 1919, 1920, 1921, which show an agreeable decline from the high-water mark of the middle year, though still a great excess above prices in the first. Engineer says:
The cost of building a first class quarter in Singapore containing 6,000 square feot of floor space, 1,123 square feet of outbuilding and 150 feet of covered way complete "with water, electric -ligat; tennis court, road and' fence, but including land, sewers or piled foundations, was jin May, 1918, actually $21,256; in August," 192), this cost Fecame $57,619, while in May, 1921, it was $38,846. These figures are from accepted tenders.
Allowing for the system under which requirements are worked out and estimates taken, which makes exact calculation impossible, the Engineer says:—I judge 1919 building prices to have Leen 20 per cent. on the average above
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.