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Auction blues: 3Q2018 sales reflect a 77% plunge y-o-y, says ET&Co report

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

September 28, 2018 9:52 PM SGT

Correction: In an earlier version of this article, we cited that the three landed properties sold at auction in 3Q2018 were sold by ET&Co. Only one was co-brokered with ET&Co, the other two were sold by Knight Frank Singapore. The error is regretted.

For the three months from July to September 2018, sales at auctions totalled $10.44 million. This was a year-on-year (y-o-y) drop of 77.1% from 45.59 million in 3Q2017, which may have been a result of the new cooling measures effective on July 6 and the Hungry Ghost Month, says Edmund Tie & Co. (ET&Co) in its 3Q2018 auction report on Sept 28.

Only nine units were successfully sold under the hammer in 3Q2018: five were residential properties totalling $7.78 million, and the remaining four were industrial properties amounting to $2.67 million. While eight of the nine sold were mortgagee sales, several owners’ sales were sold before or after the auction via private treaty, notes ET&Co.

Source: Knight Frank

The units sold via auction in Q3 2018, excluding private treaty sales and units transacted before or after the auction, are as follows:

Property	Auctioned amount	Property type
Eleven @ Holland, #01-11, 11 Holland Link (D10)	$3,250,000	Residential
The Arte, #17-12, 23 Jalan Raja Udang (D12)	$1,480,000	Residential
ECO, #02-52, 283 Bedok South Avenue 3 (D16)	$760,000	Residential
Southaven 1, #06-05, 41 Hindhede Walk (D21)	$835,000	Residential
Meadow Lodge, #03-14, 31 Chun Tin Road (D21)	$1,450,000	Residential
The Commerze @ Irving, #07-13, 1 Irving Place (D13)	$990,000	Industrial
Ubi Techpark, #07-30, 10 Ubi Crescent (D14)	$660,000	Industrial
Tuas Lot, #02-13, 50 Tuas Avenue (D22)	$483,500	Industrial
Jurong Foodhub, #06-19, 15 Jalan Tepong (D22)	$535,000	Industrial

Source: Edmund Tie & Co.

Compared to the 10 properties totalling $19.64 million sold at auctions in 2Q2018, the sales in 3Q2018 reflected a 46.8% drop. In 2Q2018, there were three landed properties sold at auctions: a 3½ storey semi-detached house at 25 Pasir Ris Way ($5 million) which was co-brokered between ET&Co and Knight Frank; a semi-detached house at 42 Hoot Kiam Road ($3.2 million) sold by Knight Frank; and an intermediate terraced house at 26 Burghley Drive ($3.12 million), also sold by Knight Frank.

In contrast, the highest priced property sold under the hammer in 3Q2018 was for a strata-titled semi-detached house at Eleven @ Holland that fetched $3.25 million at ET&Co’s auction on Sept 26.

The cooling measures, coupled with the Hungry Ghost Month, has not only affected market sentiment in the primary and secondary residential market, but auction sales as well, says Joy Tan, ET&Co’s head of auction.

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The highest priced property sold under the hammer in 3Q2018 was for a strata-titled semi-detached house at Eleven @ Holland that fetched $3.25 million at ET&Co’s auction on Sept 26 (Credit: ET&Co)

The subdued auction market in 3Q2018 is comparable to five years ago, following the introduction of the total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) loan framework that kicked in on June 29, 2013, observes Tan. Sales in 3Q2013 dropped 39.5% to $4.6 million from $7.6 million in 2Q2013.

Since the hike in the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) that came into effect in July 2018, auction sales of industrial and commercial properties has picked up, notes Tan.

Of 109 properties listed for auction in 3Q2018, about 37.5% were mortgagee sales, says Knight Frank in its auction report. Mortgagee sales have therefore increased 31.3% q-o-q and 5.8% y-o-y (See chart below).