Seoul court auctions split by price as top-end apartments clear as low as 79% of appraisal

More bidders and fewer sales fits a market where money crowds into some lots and skips others. The share of listed units that sold fell to 35.3% from 37.1%, according to GG Auction ^[3]. That means 64.7% of September's listings found no buyer ^[15], even as the average number of bidders per unit rose ^[4].

In this data the dividing line is ticket size, and Yeongdeungpo District shows it running through a single district. The Dangsan Hyundai buyer there paid 520 million won over appraisal ^[17]. In Yeouido-dong, inside the same district, the Sambu buyer paid 1 billion won under it ^[19]. The two ratios, 146.8% and roughly 79%, sit about 68 points apart ^[11][6][16].

A ratio against appraisal compares a price with a valuation. An owner feels the gap to recent trades, and that gap is wider at the top. Sambu sold for about 500 million won below the lowest recorded sale of the same floor plan this year ^[6]. Trimage in Seongsu-dong was appraised at 7.4 billion won and fetched 5.89 billion, roughly 79% of that figure ^[7]. Units on upper floors with an identical floor plan changed hands for around 7 billion won this year, over 1 billion won more than the auction price ^[7]. A Mok-dong Complex 3 unit in Yangcheon District sold for 2.5 billion won, about 200 million won under its last transaction of 2.7 billion ^[8]. Helio City in Songpa District cleared 4% above appraisal at 2.66 billion won, yet distressed listings nearby ask 2.7 billion to 2.8 billion won ^[9]. "If buying interest were what it used to be, the unit would have been absorbed in the market and never reached a court auction in the first place," said an official at a Songpa District brokerage, Sedaily reported ^[10].

"With lending curbs already limiting how much buyers can raise at auction, the tax package announced in August appears to have further dampened sentiment toward expensive apartments," said Lee Ju-hyun, a senior researcher at GG Auction ^[5]. The September average is 13.1 points below where the ratio began the year ^[20].

The numbers fit more than one cause. If the lending curbs dominate, the top-tier discount lasts as long as they do, and the 1 billion won tier keeps its premiums because its buyers can still fund a bid. A discount driven by the tax package would instead move with the package's final terms. And the top end may simply be going first, with the cheaper tier following later. I think the lending curbs explain the most, because bidders per unit rose while the average ratio fell ^[4][1]; an even cooling would thin crowds everywhere. The counter-case is sample size: a few large lots selling at 4 billion and 5.89 billion won ^[6][7] can move a citywide average on their own. The split thesis fails if Nowon, Dobong and Gangbuk, where units still fetch more than appraisal ^[13], start clearing below it.