Auction listings up by 7.1% q-o-q in 1Q2025, mortgagee sale listings likely to continue growing: Knight Frank
In General, Knight Frank is forecasting a success rate of about 5% for the whole of 2025, in accordance with the ordinary annual auction growth price of 5.1% extending the last 10 years.
Looking forward, Knight Frank expects 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 interest rates in 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, the extensive tariffs revealed by the Trump management might bring about a dampening influence on the property sector.
Knight Frank connects the higher success rate to even more buyer interest, as US interest rate cuts ever since September 2024 have urged buyers to keep an eye out for chances. The properties effectively auctioned in 1Q2025 had a complete gross sale worth of $11.9 million.
Proprietor sale listings appeared at 43, dropping 23.2% q-o-q from 56 listings recorded in 4Q2024. The remaining ten auction listings were for other types of sales– five residential units itemized as sheriff sales, three liquidator sales of factories, a financial institution sale of an industrial unit, and an estate sale of a non-landed house.
The Singapore property auction market saw a sum total of 136 public auction lists (including repeat lists and excluding real estates 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.
The sell-off market additionally noticed a greater success rate in 1Q2025. Seven listings were hit down last quarter, showing a success rate of 5.1%. This is dramatically more than the 1.6% success rate recorded in 4Q2024. The 7 postings consist of five mortgagee sales and 2 proprietor sales.
“While there was no considerable surge in home listings in 1Q2025, this may be the calm before the storm of cleaning worldwide tariffs and an impending trade war strikes,” states Sharon Lee, head of public auction and sales at Knight Frank Singapore.
According to the firm, the rise was “unanticipated”, as it coincided with Chinese New Year events that normally result in a break in sell-off event.
Another real estate, a two-bedder house in D’Ecosia, was torn down at $1.7 million– a 14.7% premium to its initial rate of $1.5 million. At the same time, a manufacturing facility unit at In-Space and a one-bedder at Le Wood were brought $1.9 million and $ 1 million each, translating to discount rates of 3.8% and 2.9% from their starting rates.
Mortgagee sales made up 83 home listings in 1Q2025, up 23.9% q-oq from 67 listings in the previous quarter. Knight Frank attributes the quarterly rise to the prolonged impact of high rates of interest all throughout 2023 and 2024, that created a rise in troubled assets to go into the public auction market.
In terms of real property kind, non commercial properties comprised 45.6% (62) of complete listings, up from the 46 non commercial listings in the past quarter. Business real estates composed 38 (28%) listings, comprising 36 retail units and two workplace units, contrasted to 36 retail units and six offices listed in 4Q2024. Industrial properties comprised 23.5% (32) of the total listings, up by one listing contrasted to the last quarter. There were additionally two shophouse listings in 1Q2025, contrasted to 5 in the past quarter.
Whilst initial purchaser interest was monitored in 1Q2025, Knight Frank anticipates buyers to re-adopt “a careful wait-and-see position” amidst the growing uncertainty. That said, with more interest rate cuts prepared for, the company notes that there could be a restored interest from property investors looking for to capitalise on the rise in mortgagee sale home listings.
Four of the properties were sold at their respective opening prices: A three-bedroom condo at Scotts Square brought $4.1 million; a HDB shophouse in Serangoon was sold for $1.9 million; a retail outlet at The Commerze @ Irving obtained $637,000; and a manufacturing facility unit at T99 changed hands for $635,000.
