"Did They Accidentally Add an Extra Zero?"... The Story Behind an 1.8 Billion Won Apartment Auctioned for 17.2 Billion Won

"Suspected Mistaken Bid"... Winning Bid 920% of Appraised Value
Facing Forfeiture of 150 Million Won Deposit
Rising Number of Auction Novices Leads to More Mistakes

An apartment view of 'Yeongdeungpo Artjai' in Dorim-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Screenshot from Naver Real Estate

In a recent apartment auction in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, a bidder submitted an amount nearly 10 times the market value. If the successful bidder fails to pay the purchase price, they stand to forfeit a deposit of approximately 150 million won, raising the possibility that this was a mistaken bid.

According to the auction industry on June 15, at the auction held at the Seoul Southern District Court on June 11 for a 120-square-meter unit in Yeongdeungpo Artjai, Yeongdeungpo-dong, one bidder won with an offer of 17.2 billion won.

The issue is that the minimum sale price for this auction was around 1.54 billion won. The winning bid is 9.2 times higher than the appraised value. In contrast, the second-highest bid was 1.85 billion won, and the third-highest was 1.67777 billion won. Since only the highest bid greatly exceeded the market price, industry observers suggest that the bidder may have intended to write 1.72 billion won but mistakenly added an extra zero.

Even if the bidder forfeits the purchase, a significant loss is inevitable. In court auctions, bidders must pay 10% of the minimum sale price as a deposit. For this property, the deposit was about 150 million won, which is non-refundable if the successful bidder decides not to proceed with the payment.

If the successful bidder fails to pay the purchase price within the designated period, the deposit will not be returned. To avoid forfeiture, the bidder would need to actually pay 17.2 billion won, which is more than nine times the appraised value—a scenario industry insiders view as highly unlikely.

Bidder Offers 6.6 Billion Won for 700 Million Won Property in Guro-gu... Forfeits 60 Million Won Deposit

There have been similar mistaken bid cases recently. Last month, at an apartment auction in Guro-gu, Seoul, a bidder offered more than 6.6 billion won for a property valued in the 700 million won range, drawing attention. At the time, it was also interpreted as a possible case of accidentally adding an extra zero to the intended bid. That bidder forfeited the auction and did not recover their 60 million won deposit.

While some successful bidders file petitions with the court to invalidate the sale on the grounds of deposit forfeiture, such cases are rarely accepted. If simple mistakes were routinely excused, it could lead to abuse of the system. The auction industry believes that as more novice bidders enter the market, mistakes in filling out bid forms are becoming more common.

Juhyun Lee, a senior expert at GG Auction, said, "Because apartments attract interest from auction beginners, cases of incorrectly filled bid amounts are occurring at least once a month. Since the bid forms are handwritten, it is essential to check the bid amount multiple times before submission and exercise extra caution."

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