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[SINGAPORE] Teo Hock Seng, executive chairman of automotive group Komoco Holdings, has put up for auction his freehold Good Class Bungalow (GCB) along Old Holland Road for at least S$36 million. 

This price tag translates to a land rate of around S$1,555 per square foot (psf) on the land area of 23,148 square feet (sq ft), marketing agent Singapore Realtors Inc (SRI) said. In comparison, caveats data showed that the median unit price of landed properties in the area is S$2,400 psf in the year thus far. 

Located in the Brizay Park GCB Area of District 10, the site has a two-storey bungalow with six en suite bedrooms, along with a swimming pool, an outdoor patio and pavilion, as well as a car porch that can accommodate 10 cars. 

Teo and his wife, Chua Hwee Meng, acquired the freehold GCB for S$11.58 million or S$500 psf in May 2007, data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority showed. The previous owners were reportedly Robert Heng, founder of auto-finance dealer Orchard Credit Group, and his wife, Ruby. The Hengs built the 12,000 sq ft GCB in 1994.

Teo is a long-time associate of property tycoon Ong Beng Seng, who owns Komoco and Singapore GP, the company that runs the Formula 1 night race in the Republic.

Teo has helmed Komoco since 1986, when it was founded as an authorised dealer of Hyundai cars in Singapore. Well-known as a supporter of local football, he is a vice-president of the Football Association of Singapore and was chairman of the Tampines Rovers Football Club from 2000 to 2015.

He declined to comment on the reasons for the sale.

He had previously put the GCB on the market in March 2024 for S$66.7 million, with marketing agent Brilliance Capital. This worked out to a land rate of around S$2,880 psf. 

This time, the property will be going under the hammer as an owner sale, said SRI Auction managing partner Mok Sze Sze.

Prices are more competitive when a property is put on auction, and the method is also the “best way to see where the market price is” with a quicker turnaround, she added.

Unlike traditional property purchases, auctions have a defined timeline and do not require an option to purchase. Instead, buyers may proceed directly to a sale and purchase agreement. 

While no formal valuation has been done, the GCB is estimated to be worth S$46 million or S$2,000 psf, Mok said.

Going, going, gone

While more properties in Singapore are going under the hammer, success rates remain relatively low, a market report by real estate consultancy Knight Frank showed. 

In the fourth quarter of 2024, there were 127 auction listings in total, including repeat listings but excluding properties sold outside an auction. This was up 47.7 per cent from the previous quarter. 

Among the Q4 auction listings, 20 were owner listings of residential properties – a notch lower than the 24 posted in Q3 – comprising 17 non-landed homes and three landed properties. 

For the whole of 2024, there were 418 auction listings – a 16.8 per cent year-on-year rise, due mainly to the number of mortgagee sale listings surging by more than 60 per cent.

Still, Knight Frank noted that owner sales continued to account for the bulk of auction listings – a trend that emerged in 2021 and is likely to continue this year. 

There were 234 owner sale listings in 2024, more than half of the year’s total number of auction listings and similar to the 238 in 2023.

“Although properties listed by owners knocked down at auction are typically few and far between, many are expected to be transacted outside of auction,” the consultancy said. 

It also noted that even with the overall increase in auction listings last year, gross sales value fell 17.5 per cent year on year to S$28.7 million, with just 15 properties sold against the 24 in 2023.

This translated to a success rate of 3.6 per cent for the whole of 2024, compared with the average success rate of 5.1 per cent in the last 10 years. 

“Sellers, including creditors, expect to dispose of properties at market value… At the same time, buyers scouting the auction listings expect a discount,” Knight Frank explained.

Sharon Lee, its head of auction and sales, said this “bid-ask gap” is often resolved through price adjustments to match offers made in private treaty, rather than during the auction event.

The Business Times understands that in 2024, two GCBs went under the hammer as owner sales, but failed to attract successful bids. One was a King Albert Park GCB with an opening price of S$26.8 million, or S$1,649 psf, on a site area of 16,250 sq ft. 

The other was at Jervois Road in the Tanglin area, with an opening price of S$68 million or S$4,482 psf on a land area of 15,171 sq ft.

The auction for Teo’s bungalow will take place on Apr 23 at 2 pm, at SRI’s Great World City office.