Singapore auction listings drop 25.2% to 86 in Q3

Over half of the listings are residential properties

The number of auction listings declined 25.2% q-o-q to 86 (including repeat listings and excluding properties sold outside of auction) in Q3 2024, with an almost equal number of mortgagee and owner sale listings at 40 and 41 respectively, according to a Knight Frank report. 

“At the same time, there were five listings of other types in Q3, consisting of three industrial units listed as MCST sales, one non-landed home listed as an Estate sale and one shophouse listed as a Trustee sale,” the report added.

Here’s more from Knight Frank:

Residential properties made up 51.2% (44) of the total listings, lower than the 73 residential homes listed in the previous quarter. There were 16 commercial properties listed in Q3 made up of 14 retail units (16.3%) and two office units (2.3%), up from the 12 retail shops and one office that were listed in Q2. Meanwhile, industrial properties comprised 26.7% (23) of the overall listings, decreasing from the 27 three months ago. There were three shophouses listed in the quarter, or 3.5% of the total listings. 

Compared to a year ago when no properties were listed as an MCST sale, there were four MCST sale listings recorded in the first nine months of 2024, a rare sight as there were more non-residential than residential property MCST listings. Likely, these properties were listed due to unavailable owners, feuding owners and/or owners who left the country and efforts to trace them have been futile. 

As it is usually not possible to view properties listed under MCST sale due to a lack of access, these units are typically priced lower when compared to mortgagee and owner listings. Nevertheless, a property being auctioned as an MCST sale can still present an opportunity for buyers. 

In Q3 2024, two freehold industrial properties in Mactech Building listed as MCST sale listings were sold for S$1.78 million and S$2.68 million, a premium of around 20% to 34% from the opening price of S$1.48 million and S$2.0 million. At the same time, a 60-year leasehold industrial unit at Gordon Warehouse Building was sold with a 9% discount from its opening price of S$330,000. 

Two properties that were listed as mortgagee sale listings sold in the quarter as well, making for a total of five properties (out of a total of 86 auction listings) knocked down at auction. This translated to a success rate of 5.8% and a total gross sale value of S$6.0 million in Q3 2024. In the past nine months of 2024, 13 properties were knocked down with a total transaction value of S$26.4 million, representing a success rate of 4.5% to-date.