Nationwide Apartment Auction Market Faces 'Sharp Decline'... Lowest Winning Bid Rate in 3 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] The court auction market, considered a leading indicator of the real estate market, continues to experience a sharp decline. Even apartments in the Seoul metropolitan area, which used to find new owners immediately as soon as they were listed, are seeing a continuous drop in both the auction success rate and the auction price ratio.

According to the auction trend report from Gigi Auction, a specialized court auction company, on the 10th, the nationwide apartment auction success rate last month was 41.5%. This is a 1.8 percentage point (p) decrease from the previous month (43.3%), with only 610 out of 1,469 total auction cases finding new owners.

The auction price ratio, one of the three major auction indicators, also declined. The nationwide apartment auction price ratio dropped 4.7%p from the previous month (90.6%) to 85.9%, marking the lowest level in 2 years and 11 months since September 2019 (84.8%). The average number of bidders last month was 5.6, decreasing for four consecutive months since April (8.0).

The auction price ratio for Seoul apartments recorded 93.7%, down 2.9%p from the previous month (96.6%), showing the lowest figure this year.

Auction indicators for apartments in Gyeonggi and Incheon also declined. The auction success rate for Gyeonggi apartments was 44.0%, down 1.6%p from the previous month (45.6%). The auction price ratio also fell to 82.9% from 92.6% the previous month, marking the lowest level in 8 years and 7 months since January 2014 (82.2%).

The auction success rate for Incheon apartments was 30.5%, down 0.8%p from the previous month (31.3%). The auction price ratio dropped sharply by 11.1%p from 89.1% to 78.0%, falling into the 70% range for the first time this year. The average number of bidders also decreased from 4.5 to 4.0.

Among the five major provincial metropolitan cities (Daejeon, Daegu, Ulsan, Busan, Gwangju), the apartment auction price ratio rose only in Ulsan (88.1%) compared to the previous month. Busan's apartment auction price ratio fell to 83.5% from 91.4%, dropping into the 80% range for the first time in 2 years and 6 months since February 2020.

Gwangju (91.9%), Daegu (80.3%), and Daejeon (76.1%) saw slight decreases of 0.6 to 1.2%p during the same period. Among the eight provinces, Gyeongbuk (89.4%) and Chungbuk (88.7%) rose by 4.7%p each compared to the previous month, and Chungnam (93.4%) increased by 1.1%p. Jeonbuk's (79.7%) apartment auction price ratio dropped by 19.4%p from 99.1%, marking the largest decline nationwide.

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