Auction listings up by 7.1% q-o-q in 1Q2025, mortgagee sale listings likely to continue growing: Knight Frank
In terms of real estate kind, housing properties made up 45.6% (62) of complete listings, up from the 46 non commercial listings in the last quarter. Commercial properties made up 38 (28%) listings, making up 36 retail units and two workplace units, compared to 36 retail units and 6 offices listed in 4Q2024. Industrial properties composed 23.5% (32) of the total listings, up by one listing compared to the previous quarter. There were likewise two shophouse listings in 1Q2025, compared to 5 in the past quarter.
Another real estate, a two-bedder house in D’Ecosia, was knocked down at $1.7 million– a 14.7% premium to its initial price of $1.5 million. Meanwhile, a factory unit at In-Space and a one-bedder at Le Wood were yielded $1.9 million and $ 1 million respectively, equating to price cuts of 3.8% and 2.9% from their starting costs.
“While there was no substantial rise in home listings in 1Q2025, this might be the calm before the storm of cleaning worldwide tariffs and an impending trade battle strikes,” says Sharon Lee, head of public auction and sales at Knight Frank Singapore.
The Singapore property auction industry viewed a total of 136 public auction lists (including repeat lists and omitting real estates sold outside of auction) in 1Q2025, up 7.1% q-o-q contrasted to the previous quarter, based upon information assembled by Knight Frank Singapore.
Four of the real estates were cost their respective opening prices: A three-bedroom residence at Scotts Square fetched $4.1 million; a HDB shophouse in Serangoon was sold for $1.9 million; a retail outlet at The Commerze @ Irving brought $637,000; and a factory unit at T99 transformed hands for $635,000.
According to the firm, the boost was “unexpected”, as it overlaped with Chinese New Year celebrations that normally lead to a break in auction activity.
Looking forward, Knight Frank anticipates the uptick in mortgagee sale listings to continue throughout the year, as more distressed properties materialise due to the extended high rates of interest in 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, the widespread tariffs revealed by the Trump management can lead to a dampening impact on the property market.
Knight Frank associates the greater success price to even more buyer interest, as US interest rate cuts ever since September 2024 have actually urged buyers to watch out for opportunities. The properties successfully auctioned in 1Q2025 had a total gross sale worth of $11.9 million.
Whilst initial purchaser interest was monitored in 1Q2025, Knight Frank expects buyers to re-adopt “a cautious wait-and-see position” in the middle of the expanding uncertainty. That said, with additional interest rate cuts prepared for, the company notes that there could be a restored interest from real estate investors looking for to capitalise on the rise in mortgagee sale postings.
The sell-off market also found a higher growth rate in 1Q2025. Seven listings were knocked down last quarter, mirroring a growth rate of 5.1%. This is considerably more than the 1.6% success rate documented in 4Q2024. The seven listings make up five mortgagee sales and 2 proprietor sales.
Mortgagee sales represented 83 listings in 1Q2025, up 23.9% q-oq from 67 listings in the previous quarter. Knight Frank associates the quarterly increase to the postponed impact of high interest rates throughout 2023 and 2024, which created a rise in troubled assets to go into the auction market.
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 types of sales– five residential 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.
In General, Knight Frank is forecasting a results rate of around 5% for the entire of 2025, in line with the average annual auction success price of 5.1% extending the last 10 years.
