"The Lifting Effect Spreads to Surrounding Areas"
The aftermath of Seoul City's lifting of land transaction permission zones has also impacted court auctions. A record-breaking 87 bidders flocked to the auction of Helio City, the flagship apartment complex in Garak-dong, Songpa-gu. Besides this area, auction properties in regions expected to benefit from the lifting of the land transaction permission system, such as Godeok-dong in Gangdong-gu, are also attracting many bidders.
According to Gigi Auction, a data specialist in auctions and public sales, on the 24th of last month, 87 bidders participated in the auction of Helio City in Garak-dong, Songpa-gu (85㎡ exclusive area type), resulting in a winning bid of 2,157,780,000 KRW, which is 117.5% of the appraised value (1,837,000,000 KRW). This is the highest number of bidders in a Seoul apartment auction since Gigi Auction began compiling statistics in 2001. Gigi Auction explained, "Despite being on the first floor, 87 people gathered, which reflects the recent high interest in apartments in Songpa-gu."
The auction fever in this area continues this month as well. On the 10th, 11 bidders participated in the auction of Resentz, 85㎡ in Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, resulting in a winning bid of 2,804,200,000 KRW, about 400 million KRW higher than the appraised value (2,410,000,000 KRW). The winning bid rate recorded 116%.
Nearby areas are also seeing an increase in bidders. On the 17th of last month, 30 bidders participated in the auction of Godeok Gracium, 60㎡ in Godeok-dong, Gangdong-gu, with a winning bid of 1,413,000,000 KRW, 200 million KRW higher than the appraised value (1,210,000,000 KRW). On the same day, 30 bidders also participated in the auction of Godeok Arteon, 85㎡ in Sangil-dong, Gangdong-gu.
On the 10th of this month, 25 bidders gathered for the auction of Seonsa Hyundai, 60㎡ in Amsa-dong, Gangdong-gu, resulting in a winning bid of 978,000,000 KRW, more than 120 million KRW above the appraised value (858,000,000 KRW). Gigi Auction analyzed, "As Jamsil-dong was released from the land transaction permission system, the asking prices for surrounding apartments also rose, which influenced the winning bid prices."
Experts diagnose that since the lifting of the land transaction permission system on the 12th of last month, demand has surged in apartment auctions in the affected areas. Lee Joo-hyun, a senior researcher at Gigi Auction, said, "The fact that winning bid rates in areas near Songpa-gu exceed 100% means that asking prices have risen. This increase in asking prices can be interpreted as the influence of the Jamsil land transaction permission system lifting spreading to surrounding areas."
He added, "As the number of auction properties increases, newly built apartments like Helio City and Godeok Gracium attract many bidders, whereas older apartments without redevelopment prospects or smaller complexes have relatively lower winning bid rates, which pulls down the overall average. In the auction market, not only high-quality properties but also less preferred listings appear, which can cause this phenomenon," he explained.
In fact, according to the ‘February 2025 Auction Trend Report’ recently released by Gigi Auction, the winning bid rate for Seoul apartments was 91.8%, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous month (93.3%). A winning bid rate of 91.8% means that apartments were sold at an average of 8.2% below the appraised value. The winning bid ratio was 42.7%, a decrease of 4.5 percentage points from the previous month (47.2%). This means that 6 out of 10 Seoul apartments put up for auction failed to find new owners and were passed over.
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