Seoul Apartment Auctions: Winning Bid Ratio Hits 3-Year High, But Why Is the Success Rate Still Low?

Winning Bid Ratio Reaches 96.5% Last Month
Successful Bid Rate Stays in the 40% Range
Selective Demand Focused on Properties with Superior Locations

The winning bid ratio in the Seoul apartment auction market has been recovering rapidly. In contrast, the actual successful bid rate remains at the 40% level.

According to real estate platform Zigbang on June 9, the average winning bid ratio for Seoul apartments last month was 96.5%. This is the highest level in about three years since it reached 103.0% in June 2022. When the winning bid ratio exceeds 100%, it means that the winning bid price is higher than the appraised value.

Yonhap News Agency

In some districts, the winning bid ratio surpassed 100%. By district, Mapo-gu recorded 113.7%, Seongdong-gu 108.5%, Jung-gu 108.4%, Yeongdeungpo-gu 107.2%, Gangnam-gu 103.4%, and Gwangjin-gu 103.0%, in descending order.

On the other hand, the successful bid rate, which refers to the proportion of properties that actually resulted in a successful bid out of all auctioned properties, remains low at the 40% level. This means that 6 out of 10 auctioned properties were unsold.

By district, Mapo-gu had the highest winning bid ratio in Seoul at 113.7%, but its successful bid rate was only 14.8%. Yongsan-gu (14.3%) and Songpa-gu (16.7%) showed similar trends. In contrast, Gangnam-gu recorded a successful bid rate of 66.7%, and Jongno-gu recorded 100%, indicating a relatively even distribution of bids.

This shows that in the Seoul apartment auction market, bidding demand is concentrated only on a limited number of properties with superior location and conditions. The perception that prices have stabilized compared to their peak, combined with expectations of interest rate cuts, are both influencing factors. As a result, buyers are selectively bidding only on properties with strong location competitiveness.

Kim Eunsun, head of the Big Data Lab at Zigbang, stated, "For some properties with excellent location and conditions, winning bids that exceed the appraised value are occurring, but most buyers are carefully scrutinizing price and conditions and are bidding cautiously." She added, "In a period like now, when high winning bid ratios are seen only for certain properties, it is essential to thoroughly examine the conditions and potential risks of each individual property."