The number of mortgagee sales at property auctions in Singapore jumped sharply during the first three months of this year — a sign that owners in financial difficulty are finding it harder to dispose of their properties.
Figures compiled by real estate consultancy Colliers International showed 22 mortgagee listings during the first quarter, far higher than the average of eight mortgagee listings per quarter in 2013.
The average number of mortgagee sales in 2012 was just six per quarter.
“Although the absolute number of mortgagee listings remained low, this is the highest quarterly number of mortgagee sales put up for auction since Q4 2010,” Colliers said in a statement.
Grace Ng, the firm’s deputy managing director, said: “The pool of potential buyers in the resale market has shrunk, making it challenging for owners to dispose of their properties in the secondary market when they default on their mortgage payments.”
Bankruptcies in Singapore have also risen, she added, citing statistics from the Ministry of Law that showed the number of people made bankrupt rose by 14 percent to reach 1,992 in 2013.
A total of 132 properties were put up for sale via auction in the first quarter of this year — an increase of 10 percent from 120 properties in the last three months of 2013.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 27 Mar 2014