Auction property sales down 33% to $19.64m in Q2

The number of mortgagee sales and high-priced properties both fell in the period.

Sales of auctioned properties fell 33% in a year from $29.48m to $19.64m in the second quarter of 2018, Edmund Tie & Co revealed. Compared to Q1, sales were also down by a margin from $19.97m.

Only one industrial property at Old Toh Tuck Road was sold via auction for $670,000. The most expensive auction sale was for 25 Pasir Ris Way for $5m, followed by 42 Hoot Kiam Road at $32m, 26 Burghley Drive for $3.12m, and Botanic Gardens Mansion at $2.65m.

Whilst the number of units hammered down YoY has maintained at 10 units, the decrease in sales value from 2017 may also be due to the lack of high quantum properties being sold this year, ET&Co said. Q2 2017’s sales value was higher from the auctioning of several big-ticket items such as a bungalow at Chestnut Drive at $11.38m, a shophouse at Jalan Besar at $5.23m, and three other residential units above the $3m mark.

ET&Co head of auction & sales Joy Tan commented, “We have transacted several high-end properties this quarter before the auctions via private treaty. Even so, the only auctioned unit with a higher sales value was a semi-detached unit at 25 Pasir Ris Way, within the Pasir Ris Beach Estate.”

Moreover, shifting from previous trends, mortgagee sales and owner/estate sales were equally popular among bidders this quarter. “Although they share the same number of transactions, owner/estate sales total to $11.19m, whilst mortgagee sales total to approximately $8.45m, a $2.74m difference,” Tan added.

She commented, “In past years, we noticed that mortgagee sales have dominated the auction floor. However, owners’ listings have caught up and exceeded the number of mortgagee sales this quarter. This is a reflection of how the market has accepted auction as an alternative way to sell their properties.”