Auction listings up by 7.1% q-o-q in 1Q2025, mortgagee sale listings likely to continue growing: Knight Frank
The auction sector additionally noticed a higher success rate in 1Q2025. Seven listings were knocked down last quarter, mirroring a growth rate of 5.1%. This is substantially higher than the 1.6% success rate reported in 4Q2024. The seven listings consist of 5 mortgagee sales and 2 owner sales.
Mortgagee sales accounted for 83 home listings in 1Q2025, up 23.9% q-oq from 67 listings in the last quarter. Knight Frank connects the quarterly rise to the delayed effect of high interest rates all throughout 2023 and 2024, which triggered a rise in distressed assets to go into the public auction market.
According to the firm, the increase was “unanticipated”, as it overlaped with Chinese New Year events that generally cause a break in sell-off event.
In General, Knight Frank is anticipating an effectiveness price of around 5% for the whole of 2025, in accordance with the typical yearly auction growth rate of 5.1% spanning the last one decade.
“While there was no considerable rise in home listings in 1Q2025, this may be the peace before the storm of mopping international tolls and an impending trade battle hits,” claims Sharon Lee, head of public auction and sales at Knight Frank Singapore.
Knight Frank attributes the higher success rate to even more buyer interest, as US interest rate cuts ever since September 2024 have actually urged buyers to keep an eye out for opportunities. The properties effectively auctioned in 1Q2025 had an overall gross sale worth of $11.9 million.
Four of the real estates were sold at their respective opening prices: A three-bedroom apartment at Scotts Square brought $4.1 million; a HDB shophouse in Serangoon was cost $1.9 million; a retail outlet at The Commerze @ Irving brought $637,000; and a factory unit at T99 changed controls for $635,000.
Proprietor sale lists appeared at 43, going down 23.2% q-o-q from 56 listings recorded in 4Q2024. The remaining ten auction listings were for other kinds of sales– five non commercial units itemized as sheriff sales, three liquidator sales of factories, a bank sale of an industrial unit, and an estate sale of a non-landed residence.
While initial buyer interest was monitored in 1Q2025, Knight Frank anticipates buyers to re-adopt “a cautious wait-and-see stance” amidst the expanding uncertainty. That said, with additional interest rate cuts expected, the firm notes that there could be a restored interest from real estate capitalists looking for to capitalise on the boost in mortgagee sale listings.
Another real estate, a two-bedder residence in D’Ecosia, was torn down at $1.7 million– a 14.7% premium to its opening price of $1.5 million. At the same time, a factory unit at In-Space and a one-bedder at Le Wood were sold for $1.9 million and $ 1 million each, equating to discount rates of 3.8% and 2.9% from their opening costs.
In terms of real estate kind, housing properties comprised 45.6% (62) of overall listings, up from the 46 non commercial listings in the previous quarter. Commercial properties made up 38 (28%) listings, consisting of 36 retail units and 2 office units, contrasted to 36 retail units and 6 offices listed in 4Q2024. Industrial properties comprised 23.5% (32) of the general listings, up by one listing compared to the last quarter. There were likewise 2 shophouse listings in 1Q2025, contrasted to five in the past quarter.
Looking forward, Knight Frank anticipates the uptick in mortgagee sale listings to proceed throughout the year, as more troubled possessions happen due to the long term high interest rates in 2023 and 2024. In addition, the extensive tariffs announced by the Trump administration might cause a dampening influence on the realty sector.
The Singapore property auction market found a total of 136 public auction lists (including repeat listings and excluding properties marketed beyond public auction) in 1Q2025, up 7.1% q-o-q compared to the previous quarter, based on data assembled by Knight Frank Singapore.
