Singapore auction listings are expected to climb even higher on the back of a 34 per cent increase in 2019 as more properties go on sale amid an uncertain economic environment, Colliers International says.

New data from the firm forecasts total listings to grow by 10 per cent in 2020, taking into account the potential economic impact should the COVID-19 outbreak becomes protracted.

Based on data tracked by Colliers Research, total auction listings in 2019 rose to a new high of 1,458 listings – surpassing 2018’s record of 1,088 listings. 

The number of both owner listings and mortgagee listings saw strong increases last year, with mortgagee listings rising to a record level in 2019.

Colliers International Singapore Head of Research, Tricia Song, told WILLIAMS MEDIA there remained caution in the market due to the potential for distress and "protracted downturn" from the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak.

"Given the uncertain environment, we anticipate that the price gap between sellers and prospects could narrow and in turn, sales and success rate may improve," she said.

"We believe COVID-19 situation is still evolving and it is hard to ascertain how long it will last.

"We have made a forecast that auction listings could rise 10 per cent this year due to the economic uncertainties.

"Should the pandemic continued into 2021, we would expect further increase in mortgagee listings."

With rising listings, the success rate fell further to 1.4 per cent in 2019, much lower than the 3.2 per cent achieved in 2018 and it is the lowest annual level in Colliers Research’s database.

According to Colliers, the total number of properties sold at auctions in 2019 continued to drop to 21 properties (16 mortgagee sales and 5 owner sales), a decline of 40 per cent YOY from 35 properties knocked down during auctions in 2018.

Of the 21 units sold during auctions in 2019, 11 were non-landed residential units, nine strata-titled industrial and retail units, and one shophouse.

Colliers International Singapore Senior Director of Capital Markets, Steven Tan, said the declining success rate reflected the continued price gap between buyers and sellers.

"We noticed that only 8 out of 21 (or 38.1 per cent) of the properties sold during auctions were transacted above their respective opening prices, indicating that buyers remained cautious during auctions and sellers are still holding onto prices," he said.

"It may also be a case of buyers needing more time before taking the plunge, which resulted in some sales being done after auction sessions – these sales are not reflected in the data set under successful auction sales.” 

Despite the lower number of sales in 2019, the total aggregate value of properties sold at auctions remained relatively stable at SGD50.1 million, a marginal decline of 1.7 per cent YOY, due to the higher quantum per unit transacted in 2019.

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