Fired-Up Auction Market... Metropolitan Area Apartment Winning Bid Rate Hits Record High for 5 Consecutive Months

Average Winning Bid 111% of Appraised Value
Seoul Apartment Winning Bid Rate Hits Highest for 3 Consecutive Months
Bidding Frenzy for 'Naejipmaren'... Multiple Winning Bids Exceed Appraised Value

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] The auction success rate for apartments in the Seoul metropolitan area has set a new record high for five consecutive months. This is due to the continued phenomenon of people flocking to auctions to buy houses at relatively affordable prices as apartment prices soar.

According to Gigi Auction, a court auction specialist company, the average auction success rate for apartments (including residential-commercial complexes) in the metropolitan area last month was 111%, up 1.3 percentage points from 110.3% the previous month. This is the highest since the company began compiling statistics in 2001. The auction success rate refers to the ratio of the winning bid to the appraised value. For example, an apartment appraised at 100 million KRW was sold at 111 million KRW.

The auction success rate for apartments in Seoul in May also rose 2.1 percentage points from the previous month to 115.9%, setting a new record high. The auction success rate for Seoul apartments has broken records for three consecutive months since reaching 112.1% in March. Incheon and Gyeonggi also show similar trends. The auction success rate for apartments in Gyeonggi has exceeded 100% for nine consecutive months, and in Incheon for four consecutive months. Last month, the auction success rate for apartments in Incheon was 106.7%, surpassing the previous record of 107.8% set in April 2002.

Some apartment auction winning bids have even exceeded market prices, indicating overheating. For example, a 45㎡ unit in Hanshin 1st Complex, Sanggye-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, was sold on the 17th of last month for 416 million KRW, about 60% higher than the appraised value of 261 million KRW. This amount is also 61 million KRW higher than the highest general sale price of 355 million KRW.

Jang Geun-seok, a team leader at Gigi Auction, explained, "As the sales market has become more active recently, the number of properties going to auction has decreased, while the number of people participating in auctions, which are considered relatively affordable, has increased. Demand is rising and supply is decreasing, so naturally the auction success rate is going up."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.