With interest rates growing and demand on the decline, some home owners may be forced to allow their property to go to auction.
Mortgage auctions have been on the rise with a total of 99 homes put up for auction in the January to July period of this year alone. Property analysts are expecting an increase even as interest rates rise, with numbers hitting closer to 200 by the end of 2015.
Recently, landed homes, in particular larger ones such as corner terraces, semi-detached or detached houses, were the more frequent subjects of property auctions. Buyers may have been attracted to the higher profit margin of these properties, but failed to gauge their holding power. Finding buyers for these big ticket items is more difficult as they often come with a very much higher total quantum price and the pool of buyers is restricted to Singaporeans and Singaporean Permanent Residents (PRs).
Some of the properties which have sold at recent auctions include a Good Class Bungalow (GCB) at Binjai Rise, a detached house in One Tree Hill and some larger apartments in Seascape @ Sentosa Cove and Orchard Scotts.
Investors seem to favour smaller apartment units at property auctions as falling rental yields all around have made them more wary. Although not as dire as the 2008 Lehman Brothers and 1998 Asian financial crisis, investors and government authorities are keeping a close eye on the market direction. Property cooling measures have seemingly curbed rampant property flipping, but could there be more room for swifter, sharper manoeuvres? How much wriggle room should you leave yourself if you’re hoping to score a good deal at the auctions?
