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.
“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.