Singapore’s property auction market saw a subdued start to the year due to the effects of the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD).
Of the 198 properties put up for auction in H12012, 191 were listed by owners while seven were put up by mortgagees.
“This continues the trend of declining mortgagee listings since Year 2007, which reflects the improved financial position of mortgagors on the back of the continued low interest rate and high liquidity environment, as well as a healthy rental market,” according to Colliers International.
But from the total number of listed properties, only 10 were sold achieving a total sale value of S$34.3 million, the second lowest figure since the 2008 global financial crisis.
The value is 50.5 percent below the S$69.25 million recorded from 33 properties auctioned in the same period last year.
Nevertheless, the total sale value remained 30.1 percent higher than the S$26.37 million seen in H22011.
“While there is a substantial 30.1 percent increase in the total sale value in H12012, it is largely attributed to the sale of a petrol station along Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim, which was sold for S$12.73 million,“ said Grace Ng, Deputy Managing Director at Colliers International.
Meanwhile, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) reported that the value proportion of commercial and industrial properties auctioned in H12012 to date saw a new three-year high of 78 percent compared to 32 percent in H12010.
“This has come off the back of a sustained, and some may feel worrying, “herd-mentality” shift in investor interest toward the non-residential sector,” noted JLL.
However, the total value of residential properties sold during auctions stood at 22 percent in H12012, down from 28 percent in H12011 and 61 percent in H12010.
In the near future, the attractiveness of the non-residential sector could be reduced “given the elevated level of policy risk and clustering of investors into the sector”.
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