$407M Takings - Home Auction Sales At Eight-Year High

Source : The Straits Times, Dec 28, 2007

A WHOPPING $407 million worth of properties was auctioned off this year - the highest figure in eight years.

This was just shy of the $409 million worth of sales in 1999, figures from Colliers International show.

This year's strong showing came despite an unexpected fall in the number of properties put up for auction. The total was 1,294 properties, down from 1,814 properties in 2006, said Knight Frank.

'If not for the sub-prime crisis, which hit the market from August, more properties would have been put up for auction and more sales would have been done,' said Knight Frank's executive director (auctions), Ms Mary Sai.

The number of properties put up for auction by owners reached a 10-year high of 810. The value of the properties sold shot up to $264.7 million from $129.5 million last year.

Colliers International's deputy managing director and auctioneer, Ms Grace Ng, said this year's strong sales were due to the 'extremely vibrant' residential market in the first half of the year.

Sales were largely dominated by high-end residential condominiums and old apartments with potential for going en bloc, she added.

This year, the number of mortgagee's sales fell by 56 per cent. It was a different story in 1999, when the auction market was dominated by mortgagee sales.