The recent government cooling measures and global economic conditions have caused significant slowdown in property auctions as the year winds down.
“It was much better in the first half of the year,” said Mok Sze Sze, Head of Auctions for Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). “As general sentiment in the property market has dampened in the past few months, our monthly auctions have become much quieter.”
At a JLL auction held last Friday, a 1,938 sq ft factory unit in Empire Techno Centre at Kaki Bukit was the only lot sold out of a total of five offered, at a price of S$580,000.
According to Mok, there is still healthy demand for industrial and commercial properties at auctions because bidders are mostly end users looking to own the properties instead of for investment purposes.
Recent property auctions held by Knight Frank and Colliers International have also shown similar results.
Sharon Lee, Head of Residential Auctions at Knight Frank, said: “Because of the cooling measures and the Eurozone crisis, all the properties have been slow, especially for the resale residential market. Landed properties, which usually sell quite well compared to apartments, are also slowing down.”
Going forward, the outlook is also negative for the auctions market in 2012.
Grace Ng, Deputy Managing Director of Colliers International, said: “Should the turbulent global economic climate fuelled by the Europe debt crisis worsen and unemployment rates increase in the near future, investors’ and buyers’ sentiments and confidence will be shaken.”
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