Category Archives: Property Market / Real Estate

Mortgagee sale properties double in Q2

In the current quarter, more properties which were repossessed from borrowers were put up for auction, said media reports.

According Colliers International, 42 foreclosed properties went under the hammer in Q2 2014, up from 22 in the first quarter and just six a year ago.

This figure is also expected to increase further due to the growing supply of non-landed private homes, which will make it difficult for borrowers to sell their properties by themselves, resulting in mortgagee sales.

The lower number of expatriates coming here is also affecting rental incomes and borrowers’ ability to repay their loans.

The mortgagee sale in Q2 2014 is the highest since the third quarter of 2009, when 63 properties were put up for auction. The 64 properties sold in the first half of the year also exceed the total tally in 2012, when 24 properties were disposed in this manner.

In comparison, the number of properties auctioned off by owners fell to 192 in first half of the year versus 226 in H1 2013.

Consequently, the share of mortgagee sales climbed to 25 percent in H1 2014 from 6.6 percent for the whole of 2013.

The mortgagee sales’ share also doubled to 33.9 percent in Q2 2014 from 16.7 percent in the previous quarter. This is also largest percentage since Q1 2008, when mortgagee sales accounted for 35.5 percent of the transactions.

Colliers’ data was based on the sales lists of major auction houses as of 19 June.

Downtown MRT Line boosts home prices

“Many studies have shown the positive impact on prices for houses within proximity to new public transportation, most notably metro systems, tram, suburban railway and bus stations,” according to the latest Knight Frank report on the impact of transport corridors and urban mass transit systems on house prices.

In Singapore, Stages 2 and 3 of the Downtown MRT Line have led to value enhancements of private non-landed residential developments around future stations.

Downtown Line
Source: Knight Frank

Prices of developments situated within 500 metrs of the future Hillview, Beauty World and King Albert Park MRT stations along Upper Bukit Timah Road (in District 21) and Rochor station (in District 7) have seen prices surpass the 20.5 percent average increase in the Outside Central Region (OCR) non-landed private residential price index, since the announcement of alignment plans for Phase 2 of the Downtown MRT Line.

Stage 2 of the Downtown MRT Line is set for completion in 2016 and will run from Bukit Panjang through Bukit Timah, while Stage 3 covers the industrial areas of Ubi and Kaki Bukit as well as Tampines Regional Centre and Changi Business Park when it is ready by 2017.

According to the Global Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum, Singapore ranked second globally in terms of infrastructure, with Hong Kong taking the top spot.

Global Competitiveness Index by the World Economic Forum

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