With most property in the land-starved city state still priced out of reach for most people -- even in the current economic and property market slump -- many now look overseas.

The majority of people in Singapore live in small, high-rise apartments, mainly built by the Housing & Development Board (HDB).

HDB flats are more affordable, with prices ranging from about S$100,000 (US$55,248) for a two-bedroom unit to around S$450,000 for larger units.

Private homes cost more. Condominiums usually start from around S$400,000 and residential property from around S$1 million.

Omar, 58, bought his house in Johor Bahru, capital of Malaysia's Johor State in 1999 for about M$364,000 ringgit (US$95,916).

He sold his HDB apartment and moved to a smaller HDB flat while using the rest of the profits to buy his house in Johor.

Now, every Friday night he drives to Johor ''to escape the stress of life in Singapore.''

He said one of the reasons people buy homes in Malaysia is they yearn to for the kampung (village) life of the 1960s and 1970s.

His family spends time in Johor tending fruit trees in the garden or holding barbecue parties with friends. Most of his neighbors are Singaporean.

A Malaysian property developer with an upscale project in Johor, Leisure Farm Corp. Sdn Bhd., said Singaporeans snapped up half the 1200-1500 bungalows it has launched since 1993.

''Singaporeans buy the houses as their second home. They come for the weekend and holidays, and also they hope to make it their retirement home later,'' said Spencer Saw, a marketing executive at Leisure Farm.

Besides Malaysia, Singaporeans buy residential property in Australia, New Zealand and Britain. They also buy houses in China, and nearby Batam, though the political upheaval in Indonesia has frightened many potential buyers away from there.

Singapore is known for its successful public housing policy that began in 1960 with the establishment of the HDB to eradicate slums and ensure every Singaporean an affordable and decent home.

Today, about 92 percent of households in Singapore own their homes, according to government statistics, about 86 percent in HDB flats.

The high rate of home ownership is also due to the Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings scheme, which currently sets aside 20 percent of a worker's monthly salary plus another 16 percent additional contribution from the employer.

Although the fund is meant for retirement, the government has since 1968 allowed people to withdraw it earlier to use as in down payments for property and for repayments of loans. The money must be returned to the CPF if a flat is sold.

China has already shown interest in learning from Singapore and Premier Zhu Rongji even visited an HDB flat in December 1999.

The HDB has also provided training in planning, development and management of public housing estates to Chinese officials from Shanghai, Suzhou and Jiangsu.

HDB's development programs are financed by housing loans from the government, bank loans and bonds.

Most Singaporeans who earn less than S$8000 are allowed to buy their first HDB flats at a subsidized rate directly from the HDB.

Besides using their CPF, they can also turn to HDB for financing at a lower interest rate, 2.6 percent per annum compared with the market rate of about 3 percent to 5.75 percent.

Owners are allowed to sell only five years later, but usually with a hefty profit -- as much as 10 times the original price.

The trend is for people to upgrade to a bigger flat, but older people like Omar may downgrade and buy property overseas.

There are also some woes in HDB flats.

One problem is ''killer litter.'' Last year, three people were convicted of throwing objects such as beer bottles and thorny durian husks out of flat windows. They were forced to sell off their flats within six months.

There are also cases of people urinating in lifts, which prompted the installation of urine detectors on some estates.

While changing bad habits takes time, the government has tried to improve the design of HDB homes to meet higher expectations.

It implemented a program in 1989 to give major facelifts to estates more than 17 years old. It has also built ''executive condominiums,'' trying to improve the quality and design of new HDB flats to look more like condos.

Recently, the government also relaxed building rules to encourage developers to build more balconies in lower end private condominiums so that people here can enjoy cultivating their gardens in the sky. And the Info-Comm Development Authority in October last year started to experiment with Singapore's first ''Internet HDB flat'' that has high-tech communication systems.

Still, many Singaporeans look overseas for their ''dream homes.''

''If you go to Australia with S$400,000 you can easily live in a bungalow with a big piece of land and two cars,'' said a sociologist at the local university. ''In Singapore, you can buy an HDB flat.''