2009 property auction sales double to $168.4 million

2009 property auction sales double to $168.4 million
Dec 18, 2009 - PropertyGuru.com.sg

Property auction sales are expected to continue rising in 2010, stimulated by interest in the high-end residential market, Colliers International said. The total value of properties sold at auctions may exceed $200 million next year, after the figure doubled in 2009 from $83.7 million last year to around $168.4 million.

There were a total of 118 properties sold at auctions this year, up from 72 last year.

The residential property was the top performer, accounting for around 52 percent of total value of auction sales.

Unlike early expectation in some quarters, the volume of mortgagee properties included on the auction block dropped 25 percent to 195. The figure includes other forced sales by some management firms and the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore.

“The low number of mortgagee sales could be due to the introduction of the government's Jobs Credit scheme, which stabilized the employment market. This, in turn, provided some home owners with the ability to service their monthly mortgage loans,” says Grace Ng, auctioneer and deputy managing director (agency and business services) of Colliers International.

The number of properties, which their owners put up for auction, increased 10 percent to 732.

“Owners are attracted by the competitive nature of the auction environment and the high chance of attaining an optimum price for their property.” said Mok Sze Sze, head of auctions at Jones Lang LaSalle.

She expects to see a new wave of owners putting their properties on the auction block by 2010 and as the economy continues to recover, mortgagee sales will further decrease in number.

Colliers highlighted over 200 percent rise in the sales value of industrial and residential properties sold at auction in 2009 to $20 million and $88.4 million, respectively. Popular for both non-landed and landed segments are older residential properties with large areas.

The value of retail property sales transacted at auctions increased to $43.4 million from $34.6 million last year.

The $168.4 million auction tally for this year is about 59 percent below the peak figures of $407.43 million set in 2007 and $409.46 million in 1999.