Mortgagee listings in Singapore hit a seven-year high in 2015, with the number of repossessed properties put up for auction soaring by almost 52 percent to 241 from 159 in 2014, reported Channel NewsAsia citing Colliers International.
Owner listings, on the other hand, stood at 555, taking the total number of auction listings to a six-year high of 796. Last year, there were 529 auction listings.
Colliers attributed the increase to the difficulty faced by borrowers in default to sell their properties.
It noted that residential properties accounted for 79.6 percent of the listings. Mortgagee listings for landed homes jumped to 50 units from 19 last year, while non-landed properties rose to 142 from 104 in 2014.
Despite the increase, the numbers are still lower compared to that recorded during the 1998 Asian Financial Crisis and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, noted the property consultancy.
Looking ahead, Colliers expects the number of mortgagee sales to continue increasing next year as higher interest rates put more pressure on borrowers struggling to service their bank loans.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
