Seoul Apartment Auction Market Slows Last Month... Winning Bid Rate Turns Downward

Winning Bid Rate Reaches 101.7% Last Month

Last month, the auction winning bid rate for apartment units in Seoul (the ratio of the winning bid to the appraised value) declined.

A view of apartment complexes in downtown Seoul from Namsan, Seoul. 2025.06.27 Photo by Dongju Yoon

According to GGI Auction, a company specializing in public auction data, the winning bid rate for apartment auctions in Seoul last month was recorded at 101.7%.

The winning bid rate for Seoul apartment auctions had risen for two consecutive months, from 101.4% in November last year to 102.9% in December, and then to 107.8% in January of this year. However, last month, it dropped by 6.1 percentage points. Notably, during the fourth week of last month (from the 23rd to the 27th), the winning bid rate for Seoul apartment auctions fell below 100%, standing at 97.2%.

However, due to the impact of the Lunar New Year holiday last month, the number of court auctions for apartments in Seoul sharply decreased to 97 cases, compared to 174 cases in the previous month.

The successful bid rate, which represents the ratio of the number of successful bids to the number of auctions held, was 45.4%, marking a consecutive increase over the past two months (42.5% in December last year, 44.3% in January, and 45.4% in February). The average number of bidders per auction also increased for two consecutive months, rising from 6.7 to 7.9 and then to 8.1.

On the 2nd of last month, an 8th-floor apartment unit with an exclusive area of 59.91 square meters in Kumho Hyundai, Eungbong-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, was auctioned off for 1,536.19 million won, which is over 600 million won higher than the appraised value of 930 million won. There were 44 bidders for this unit.

With apartment prices in Seoul continuing to rise, government measures announced on October 15 last year designated all of Seoul as a land transaction permit zone, making auctions a 'niche market' for home purchases. In these zones, buyers are required to obtain approval from the relevant authorities and reside in the property for at least two years. However, properties acquired through auctions are exempt from these requirements, meaning there is no obligation for actual residence and 'gap investment' (purchasing with an existing lease) is possible. If the winning bidder does not use a mortgage loan for the balance payment, they can also avoid the obligation to move in within six months, as stipulated in the June 27 measures.

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