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Property auction sales value hits 5-year high

Posted on 24 Dec 2015 | Comments Off

Singapore’s property auction market saw total sales value for this year soar 41 percent to $102.27 million from $72.50 million last year – its highest in five years, revealed a JLL report.

This comes even as the total number of properties successfully auctioned this year is similar to that of last year at 34 properties.

JLL attributed the rise in total sales value to big-ticket items sold earlier in the year, with the $16.30 million sale of a single-storey bungalow with redevelopment potential at 25 Branksome Road in September emerging as this year’s biggest auction deal.

The report stated that the residential sector accounted for 68 percent of total sales value in 2015, due to the large share of sales listings which reached 70 percent in Q1 and Q4 2015, or an annual percentage of 65 percent.

Except for 2013, the number of residential properties put up for auction since 2009 has consistently surpassed the combined number of commercial and industrial properties, said JLL. Residential properties accounted for only 46 percent of total listings in 2013.

Meanwhile, 88 percent of the 26 properties sold this year were mortgagee listings, a similar percentage to that recorded in 2014, when 16 of the 20 residential properties sold were mortgagee listings.

The past two years marked a significant growth in the percentage of mortgagee properties as a portion of residential auction sales, noted JLL. This is a departure from 2010 to 2013, when mortgagee listings accounted for less than 50 percent of total residential sales.

“In the environment of impending further increase in interest rates and softening of rental market, we are likely to see more mortgagee sales put up in 2016. The majority of these are likely to comprise residential properties,” said Mok Sze Sze, Head of Auction and Sales at JLL.

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Posted in Auction

Tagged Property Auction, Residential Properties

Sliding flat values in tale of two markets

Posted on 11 Oct 2014 | Comments Off

SINKING property prices seem to be the order of the day, so another quarter of tumbling prices came as no surprise.

More notable is an emerging trend that private home prices appear more resilient now than those of HDB resale flats. Since the third quarter of 2013, prices of HDB resale flats have fallen more than those of private homes.

Cooling measures sent private home prices down by 3.8 per cent in the past year, flash estimates indicated yesterday. Housing Board flat values tumbled a steeper 6 per cent in the same period.

Over the year, experts predict that private homes prices will ease 5 to 6 per cent while HDB resale prices slide by 5 to 8 per cent.

This reverses the usual pattern.

Rises or falls in private home prices mostly outpace changes in the HDB market, especially during a global or economic crisis, said Ms Chia Siew Chuin, director of research and advisory at Colliers International.

She cited the 1997 Asian financial crisis when private property prices dived 44.9 per cent as HDB resale prices shed 20.4 per cent. “HDB flats are a basic housing provision… the public segment tends to be insulated from external shocks during those times.”

A shortage of new flats had also forced buyers to look to resale flats, propping up prices, said Mr Ong Teck Hui, JLL national director of research and consultancy.

But the rug seems to have been pulled from under the feet of the HDB market, as demand shifted from resale flats to new flats.

The market is now flush with new HDB flats after the Government ramped up its building programme to meet first-time buyer demand. About 25,000 new flats were launched last year, with 22,000 more due this year.

A mortgage servicing ratio limiting monthly housing payments at 30 per cent of the buyer’s gross monthly income hit many. And newly minted permanent residents can buy an HDB flat only after three years.

Private home buyers have been hurt by tough mortgage lending guidelines and higher stamp duties but one key difference is that high land prices paid by developers act as a limit on discounting.

“They’re floating on thin margins,” as Mr Alan Cheong, research head at Savills Singapore, noted.

Also, private property owners would have gained from the 60 per cent surge in private home prices during the most recent market upswing. They are unlikely to lower their selling expectations.

Still, the private home market could be hit by an external shock, much like the Asian financial crisis, or internal issues, like rising vacancies owing to an oversupply of new homes.

The market will soon abound with completed condo units – many of which have been bought for investments – in the face of a shrinking pool of foreign tenants.

“If loan servicing is affected by reduced rental income, there could be selling pressure resulting in price declines,” said Mr Ong.