The sale-to-appraisal ratio for Seoul apartment auctions, which had been rising alongside apartment transaction prices, has fallen below 100% for the first time in six months. The decline is attributed to weakening buyer demand for Seoul apartments as the end of the capital gains tax moratorium for multi-home owners approaches in one month and rising assessed property values increase holding tax burdens.
According to the "March 2026 Auction Trend Report" released by GG Auction, a data company specializing in auctions and public sales, the number of Seoul apartment auctions conducted last month increased approximately 66% to 161 cases from 97 in the previous month, but the successful bid rate fell 1.9 percentage points to 43.5% from 45.4%. While auction listings increased, buyer demand failed to keep pace. The sale-to-appraisal ratio also dropped 2.4 percentage points to 99.3% from 101.7% the previous month, falling below 100% for the first time in six months since September last year (99.5%).
By appraisal value bracket, high-end apartments exceeding 2.5 billion won ($1.8 million) recorded the lowest average sale-to-appraisal ratio. After falling 14.5 percentage points from 125.6% in January to 111.1% in February, the ratio dropped another 18.9 percentage points to 92.2% in March, showing an accelerating decline. Concerns over increased holding tax burdens are seen as a factor in the falling sale-to-appraisal ratios for high-end apartments. The average number of bidders decreased by 0.5 to 7.6 from 8.1 the previous month.
In contrast, apartments appraised at 1.5 billion won or less recorded a sale-to-appraisal ratio of 100.6%, while those appraised between 1.5 billion and 2.5 billion won recorded 101.8%, both exceeding 100%. Compared to apartments over 2.5 billion won, properties below that threshold have higher total mortgage loan limits, making financing relatively less burdensome and attracting more buyer demand.
