A Chinese man has purchased an entire apartment for just 11 yuan (US$1.70), an extraordinary transaction that has attracted widespread attention amid China’s prolonged real estate downturn.
According to a Nov. 6 report by Cover News, the 68.36-square-metre (736-square-foot) apartment is located in Hegang, a former coal-mining city in northeastern China’s Heilongjiang province. It was sold through Alibaba’s online auction platform on Nov. 5 as part of China’s annual Singles’ Day shopping promotions.
Although the sale was legitimate, the remarkably low price came with an important catch: the property was worth approximately 40,000 yuan (US$5,600), with the difference covered by a promotional subsidy.
A two-bedroom apartment for less than a cup of coffee
The apartment attracted 1,677 registered participants and received 1,001 bids before selling in just two minutes and 20 seconds, according to Times Finance’s Nov. 11 investigation.
The auction began at one yuan, with bids increasing in increments of 0.01 yuan. Unlike traditional auctions, the maximum price was fixed at 11 yuan, with the first participant to reach that amount securing the property.
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The winning bidder was a man from Zhejiang province in eastern China.
Liu, a manager at Shenyang Hengyu Tongda Auction Company, which organized the sale, confirmed that the apartment was a legitimate secondhand property rather than a court-seized asset.
“This is an Alibaba Assets Singles’ Day special event,” Liu told Cover News, explaining that two Hegang properties had been selected for the promotion.
Liu added that the apartment’s estimated market value was approximately 40,000 yuan, with Alibaba’s promotional campaign covering the difference between the winning bid and the property’s value.
The property is located in Hegang’s Beiguo Mingzhu residential complex and occupies the seventh floor of a building without an elevator.
According to auction records reviewed by Zonglan News, the apartment’s ownership documentation showed no mortgages, legal seizures, or ownership disputes.
However, the winning bidder must still pay approximately 2,000 yuan (US$280) in property-transfer taxes.
Despite acquiring the apartment for a fraction of its estimated value, the buyer reportedly has no immediate plans to relocate.
“I don’t plan to settle in Hegang,” the buyer said during a livestream following the auction, according to a Nov. 7 report published by The Paper.
He explained that he intended to use the apartment as a vacation property when visiting northeastern China to enjoy the winter scenery, adding that he had not decided what to do with it over the longer term.
The promotion proved so popular that organizers scheduled another apartment auction for Nov. 10.
That property, measuring approximately 67.5 square metres, had an estimated market value of 25,000 yuan (US$3,500).
However, after attracting 22,559 registered participants, the second auction was abruptly suspended.
According to a Nov. 8 report by Jimu News, Alibaba’s auction platform listed the cancellation as occurring at the “request of the consignor.”
The report said the auction had attracted more than 210,000 views before its cancellation. Organizers confirmed that participants would receive refunds of their deposits, although no more detailed public explanation for the suspension was established.
China’s bargain-basement housing market
Hegang has become nationally famous for its remarkably inexpensive apartments, earning a reputation as one of China’s cheapest cities for residential property.
Once heavily dependent on coal mining, the city experienced years of industrial restructuring, population losses, and extensive residential construction.
According to Times Finance, approximately 110,000 replacement apartments were constructed between 2013 and 2018 as part of government redevelopment programs.
Meanwhile, the closure of smaller coal mines contributed to an exodus of workers, reducing the city’s population from approximately 1.09 million in 2010 to 995,000 in 2018.
The combination of increased housing supply and declining population placed considerable downward pressure on residential property values.
However, Hegang’s housing market has recently shown signs of recovery.
According to the Hegang municipal government’s 2025 economic report, commercial property sales reached 660 million yuan (approximately US$93 million) last year, an increase of 29 percent over 2024.
The total floor area sold increased 14.2 percent to 168,000 square metres, while real estate development investment rose 59 percent.
These figures suggest that although Hegang remains exceptionally affordable, its housing market is not experiencing an uninterrupted decline.
Heilongjiang’s real estate market
The broader provincial picture remains considerably more challenging.
Heilongjiang has experienced decades of demographic pressure, with its shrinking population, aging workforce, and economic dependence on traditional industries creating obstacles for long-term housing demand.
According to the China Index Academy’s September 2026 housing market report, existing-home prices in the provincial capital, Harbin, declined approximately five percent year over year.
Meanwhile, figures compiled by the University of International Business and Economics from China’s National Bureau of Statistics show that Heilongjiang’s commercial property sales reached approximately 26.1 billion yuan during the first nine months of 2026, representing an 11.8 percent decline from the same period in 2025.
The figures indicate that Hegang’s recent improvement has not been sufficient to reverse the broader provincial downturn.
China’s hardest-hit real estate markets
Heilongjiang’s difficulties are part of a much larger national property slump, although some regions have experienced substantially steeper declines.
According to an October 2026 report by the University of International Business and Economics, commercial property sales revenue in Guangxi fell 35.7 percent during the first nine months of 2026, making it one of China’s hardest-hit major regional housing markets.
Liaoning province recorded a 31.2 percent decline, while Tibet experienced an even larger percentage drop of 36.9 percent, although its overall property market is substantially smaller.
The national picture is similarly troubling.
China’s National Bureau of Statistics reported on Oct. 19 that real estate development investment fell 20.6 percent during the first nine months of 2026, while new commercial property sales declined 13.9 percent by value.
Housing construction starts fell 24.9 percent, while completed floor space declined 25.1 percent, underscoring the continued weakness of China’s property development sector.
The figures suggest that Beijing’s efforts to stabilize the housing market have yet to produce a sustained nationwide recovery.
They also highlight a growing divide between stronger urban markets and smaller cities struggling with population losses, weak employment prospects, and excess housing supply.
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