In most of Singapore's prime districts, a fairly priced apartment barely has time to sit on the market. So when 19 properties tied to the country's largest-ever money laundering case went under the hammer on 23 September, you might have expected a feeding frenzy. Instead, only four found buyers.
The four sold for a combined S$16.28 million. The other fifteen? Withdrawn or left without a single bid. The gap between what the sellers were hoping for and what buyers were willing to pay says a lot about how selective the market has become, even for blue-chip addresses.
Four of ten prime units sold
Realtor SRI offered 10 condominiums, all in well-known addresses: six at Martin Modern in River Valley and four at Wallich Residence inside Tanjong Pagar's Guoco Tower. Four of them sold.
- A 764 sq ft two-bedder at Martin Modern on the 26th floor sold for S$2.12 million, after opening at S$2.238 million.
- A same-sized two-bedder on the 17th floor went for S$2.08 million.
- At Wallich Residence, a 1,991 sq ft four-bedder on the 61st floor with sea and city views sold for S$6.6 million, down from its S$6.78 million opening price.
- A 1,658 sq ft four-bedder on the 53rd floor sold for S$5.48 million.
The other six units did not clear their reserve prices. One Martin Modern two-bedder drew a top bid of S$2.11 million on the 29th floor, but the property was withdrawn because it fell short of the undisclosed reserve. At Wallich Residence, a three-bedder opening at S$4.42 million and a four-bedder opening at S$5.9 million both went unsold.
At the second auction, the homes drew no bids at all
Later the same day, auction house ETC put nine more seized properties on the block: eight luxury homes plus a factory in Kaki Bukit. Not one of the eight residences received a single bid.
- Five apartments at South Beach Residences on Beach Road, including a 6,727 sq ft triplex penthouse guided at S$25.3 million.
- Two units at 8 Saint Thomas in River Valley, opening from S$4.4 million.
- A three-bedder at Paterson Suites near Orchard Road, opening at S$5.18 million.
The factory at Shun Li Industrial Park was the only lot to attract interest. A lone bid of S$3.1 million came in, roughly S$530,000 below its S$3.63 million opening price, and it was withdrawn too. Between them, the nine lots carried opening prices adding up to more than S$64.9 million.
It followed a Knight Frank auction on 17 September, where seven other seized properties, including apartments at Gramercy Park and Sloane Residences plus an office unit at Suntec Tower One, also failed to sell after bids came in below reserve.
Where these homes came from
The properties are part of the fallout from Singapore's S$3 billion money laundering probe, which began with an islandwide raid in August 2023. All 10 people arrested in the case have since been convicted and deported. Accounting firm Deloitte was appointed by the police to manage and sell the non-cash assets, with more than 80 properties set to go under the hammer progressively between September 2026 and mid-2027. All proceeds go into the Consolidated Fund.
Under the auction terms, successful bidders had to pay a 10 per cent deposit and complete their purchases within 10 weeks.
What this means for buyers
The lesson is not that prime property has lost its appeal. It is that auction sales run on their own logic. Opening prices are guides, not discounts, and sellers work to reserve prices they keep private. When the market disagrees with that number, the unit simply goes back into the pool.
So "seized" and "below opening price" do not automatically add up to a bargain. Two Martin Modern two-bedders did sell under their opening prices, but only because the reserve was met. A third unit drew a bid that looked keen but was still too low, and the seller walked away.
With dozens more of these properties still due to be auctioned over the coming months, there will be plenty more rounds to watch where buyers and sellers decide to meet in the middle.
Sources
The Business Times: Martin Modern, Wallich Residences properties linked to money laundering case sell for S$16.3 million at auction
EdgeProp Singapore: 10 apartments at Martin Modern, Wallich Residence up for auction at $2.238 mil to $6.78 mil
The Straits Times: 16 luxury condos in CBD, Orchard Road, River Valley tied to $3b money laundering case up for auction
Yahoo News Singapore: Four condo units seized in money laundering case sold at auction for $2.08 mil to $6.6 mil