Sales Value of Auctioned Properties In Singapore Hits 5-year High

It's been the highest value for sold auctioned properties in the past five years at $107.27 million, but the number of sales has not improved, Straits Times reports.

According to JLL, the number of properties sold this year and last year has been the same with both getting a total of 34 sales, however, the value has significantly increased. From $72.5 million, the value had a strong 41% percent rise, said the consultancy agency.

The listings have been dominated by residential properties, with 26 homes put up for auction and 88% of which were mortgage sales.

For this quarter, on the other hand, the auction market has not been as noisy with the sales value plummeting to $10.83 million from $45.65 million from July to September 30,  which is a significant 76% drop.

Compared to the previous three months' number of sales of 12, it was down to 4 this quarter.

Out of the three residential properties sold, two were mortgage sales and the fourth was an industrial property.

What contributed to the rise in sales value were big-ticket items ticked off the inventory in the earlier part of the year, particularly in the residential and commercial sectors, according to JLL.

To be specific, one big-ticket sale for the residential sector was that of the single-storey bungalow at 25 Branksome Road which for its redevelopment potentials, sold for $16.30 million in September, and is actually considered the year's biggest auction sale.

Since 2009 to present (apart from 2013 which was only 46% of all listings), the number of auctioned residential properties have consistently overtaken even the combined numbers of industrial and commercial sites, said JLL.

"In the environment of an impending further increase in interest rates and softening of the rental market, we are likely to see more mortgagee sales put up in 2016. The majority of these are likely to comprise residential properties," said Ms Mok Sze Sze, head of auction and sales in JLL.

For Ong Kah Seng of R'ST Research, auctions may be viewed as an "opportunity hot spot to snap up properties at good bargains, amid a general, marginal price decline".