A total of 529 properties were put up for sale in the property auction market in 2014, according to Colliers International.
159, or 30.1 percent, of those were put up by mortgagees. This is five times the 32 properties put up by mortgagees in 2013, and it is also the highest number in five years since 2010.
Meanwhile, the proportion of properties put up by owners in 2014 remains high at close to 69.9 per cent.
Annie Chan, Director of Auction & Sales at Colliers International says, “The higher number of mortgagee listings this year was on the back of the stricter regulatory and financing environment, in which borrowers in default are finding it challenging to sell their properties on their own, as buyers generally remain cautious.
She added the high number of bankruptcies could have also contributed to the increase in the number of properties put up for mortgagee sale.
“However, there is little cause for anxiety, as the 159 properties put up by mortgagees this year are still fewer than the mortgagee listings during the 2008 global financial crisis, the 1998 Asian financial crisis, as well as the last market downturn in 2004,” Chan said.
123 of the 159 properties (77.4 percent) put up for mortgagee sale were residential homes, marking a seven-fold jump from the 17 residential properties listed by mortgagees in 2013.
Non-landed residential properties make up 65.4 percent of the mortgagee listings.
Muneerah Bee, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email muneerah@propertyguru.com.sg
