Sharp fall in number of properties going under the hammer

The Business Times has reported that value of properties sold at auction this year has plunged to a three-year low of $95.62 million.

This is due mainly to a chill in secondary-market sales of residential properties following higher seller's stamp duty rates introduced in January, says Colliers International.

It (Colliers) predicts a further decline with the figure for next year potentially coming in close to the $83.7 million low plumbed in 2008, during the global financial crisis.

In the past year, residential properties made up more than half of total auction sales value. This year, their share slipped to just 28.4%, compared with 51.3% in 2010 and 52.5% in 2009. Investors have diverted their attention to non-residential properties due to the cooling measures aimed at the residential sector.

Source: The Business Times

Seems like the hammer is more useful for breaking SMRT trains' glass windows (caveat: only when the train breaks down inside the tunnel and the ventilation fans start shutting down, although SMRT has strongly advised agianst doing so) than for auctioning properties these days...

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