Auction listings up by 7.1% q-o-q in 1Q2025, mortgagee sale listings likely to continue growing: Knight Frank
Proprietor sale listings appeared at 43, going down 23.2% q-o-q from 56 listings recorded in 4Q2024. The standing ten auction postings were for other kinds of sales– five non commercial units listed as sheriff sales, three liquidator sales of factories, a bank sale of an industrial unit, and an estate sale of a non-landed residence.
Looking ahead, Knight Frank anticipates the uptick in mortgagee sale listings to continue throughout the year, as even more troubled properties materialise as a result of the long term high rates of interest in 2023 and 2024. Additionally, the prevalent tolls revealed by the Trump administration can cause a dampening effect on the real estate market.
Mortgagee sales accounted for 83 listings in 1Q2025, up 23.9% q-oq from 67 listings in the last quarter. Knight Frank associates the quarterly increase to the delayed effect of high rates of interest all throughout 2023 and 2024, that caused a boost in troubled assets to get in the auction market.
In regards to real property type, residential properties comprised 45.6% (62) of overall listings, up from the 46 home listings in the previous quarter. Business real estates composed 38 (28%) listings, making up 36 retail units and two workplace units, contrasted to 36 retail units and six offices listed in 4Q2024. Industrial properties made up 23.5% (32) of the overall listings, up by one listing contrasted to the last quarter. There were also two shophouse listings in 1Q2025, compared to 5 in the past quarter.
Knight Frank associates the greater success rate to even more customer interest, as US interest rate cuts since September 2024 have urged buyers to keep an eye out for chances. The properties effectively auctioned in 1Q2025 had a total gross sale worth of $11.9 million.
One more property, a two-bedder residence in D’Ecosia, was knocked down at $1.7 million– a 14.7% premium to its initial rate of $1.5 million. At the same time, a factory unit at In-Space and a one-bedder at Le Wood were yielded $1.9 million and $ 1 million each, equating to discount rates of 3.8% and 2.9% from their first prices.
Four of the real estates were sold at their respective opening prices: A three-bedroom condo at Scotts Square fetched $4.1 million; a HDB shophouse in Serangoon was cost $1.9 million; a market store at The Commerze @ Irving brought $637,000; and a factory unit at T99 changed hands for $635,000.
In General, Knight Frank is predicting a success rate of about 5% for the whole of 2025, in accordance with the average annual auction growth rate of 5.1% spanning the last 10 years.
According to the firm, the boost was “unexpected”, as it overlaped with Chinese New Year festivities that usually cause a time-out in sell-off activity.
“While there was no considerable surge in home listings in 1Q2025, this may be the calm before the storm of mopping worldwide tariffs and a looming trade battle hits,” states Sharon Lee, head of auction and sales at Knight Frank Singapore.
Bloomsbury Residences Singapore
The sell-off sector additionally found a higher growth rate in 1Q2025. Seven listings were smacked down last quarter, reflecting a success price of 5.1%. This is dramatically higher than the 1.6% success rate documented in 4Q2024. The 7 listings consist of five mortgagee sales and two proprietor sales.
The Singapore property auction market saw a sum total of 136 auction lists (including repeat lists and omitting real estates sold outside of auction) in 1Q2025, up 7.1% q-o-q compared to the previous quarter, based upon information compiled by Knight Frank Singapore.
While initial purchaser interest was observed in 1Q2025, Knight Frank anticipates buyers to re-adopt “a careful wait-and-see position” in the middle of the growing uncertainty. That said, with more rates of interest cuts expected, the company notes that there could be a renewed interest from real estate capitalists seeking to capitalise on the increase in mortgagee sale home listings.
