The property auction market saw a total sales value of $11.57 million in the first three months of this year. This translates into a 42.1% decline y-o-y from $53.84 million in 1Q2018, says Edmund Tie & Company (ET&Co).
The decline could be due to the after-effects of last year’s property cooling measures, which softened the whole residential property market since 3Q2018, says ET&Co. Other factors include the New Year and Lunar New Year festive periods in January and February, as well as the March school holidays.
Units sold via auction in Q1 2019, excluding private treaty sales and units transacted before or after the auction. (
“Many buyers appear to adopt a wait-and-see attitude, especially with many upcoming new launches, giving buyers a wide variety of choices,” ET&Co says.
The most expensive unit sold at auction in the first quarter this year was the mortgagee sale of a 2,852 sq ft, three-bedroom-plus-study unit at Grange Residences. The unit fetched $7.15 million ($2,507 psf) when it went under the hammer and successfully found a buyer at ET&Co’s auction on March 27. It was the first time the 17th-floor unit was offered at auction. It was bought for $6.8 million ($2,384 psf) on Oct 5 last year, based on URA Realis.
“The successfully auction price of $7.15 million is very attractive, given that another 17th-floor unit in Grange Residences was sold at $8 million ($2,805 psf) in January 2018. Prices in Districts 9 and 10 are also surpassing $3,000 psf in today’s market, with nearby new launches transacting at approximately $3,500 psf,” says Joy Tan, head of auction and sales at ET&Co.
Other top auction sales include the owners’ sale of a 1,399 sq ft, three-bedroom unit at Haig Court which changed hands for $1.85 million ($1,322 psf) on Feb 28; and the mortgagee sale of a commercial unit at Sim Lim Square at $1.7 million.