Chinese Buyer Wins Hegang Flat for 11 Yuan as Subsidised Promotion Draws Scrutiny

A 140 Second Race for a Holiday Home

A man from eastern China secured a 68.36 square metre apartment in Hegang, Heilongjiang province, for 11 yuan after 1,677 people registered for a promotional auction that lasted just two minutes and 20 seconds. The platform subsidised the purchase, while the buyer still faced about 2,000 yuan in taxes to transfer ownership.

The two bedroom flat, on the seventh floor of a residential building in the Beiguo Mingzhu Phase One complex in Gongnong district, was offered through Alibaba Auction during the Double 11 shopping season. Bidding opened at 3 p.m. on November 5 and ended at 3:02:20 p.m., after 1,001 bids.

The organiser, Shenyang Hengyu Tongda Auction Co., said the apartment could legally change hands and estimated its market value at about 40,000 yuan. The winning buyer had paid the 11 yuan purchase price and a software service fee and had begun the transfer process.

A second Hegang apartment was scheduled for the same promotion on November 10. That event was subsequently halted at the consignor's request, after attracting more than 22,000 registrations. The completed sale and the cancelled follow up put two issues in focus: how a subsidised promotion works, and what buyers actually pay to own a very cheap home.

Why the Bidding Stopped at 11 Yuan

Alibaba Auction's promotion began at 1 yuan, required a 1 yuan registration deposit and allowed bids to rise by just 0.01 yuan at a time. Once a participant successfully submitted an 11 yuan bid, the contest ended. Nobody could offer more to secure the property.

The rules made speed at the final price decisive. An ordinary auction generally allows competing buyers to keep raising their offers. Here, the platform had already fixed the maximum payment and agreed to subsidise the difference between that amount and the property's value.

A manager surnamed Liu at the auction company confirmed that the transaction was genuine and that two Hegang properties had been selected for the Double 11 campaign. He described the flat as an ordinary resale property that could be transferred, rather than a home being sold through a court auction.

The structure resembled a promotional giveaway conducted through bidding, with the first successful participant to reach the cap winning. The platform gained attention around its property business, while one buyer received a large subsidy. Double 11, centred on November 11, provided the shopping festival setting for the campaign.

The Purchase Price Was Only the Beginning

The buyer's immediate costs included about 2,000 yuan in deed tax or related transfer taxes, according to the organiser. Deed tax is a tax connected with the transfer of property ownership. Adding that estimate to the winning bid produces a minimum of about 2,011 yuan before the software service fee and any other charges.

The estimated tax bill alone was roughly 182 times the 11 yuan bid. The amount of the service fee was not disclosed, and completion of the ownership transfer had not been confirmed. Under the promotion's rules, the successful bidder had to complete the transfer within one month and bear the relevant transaction taxes.

The listing described the property as having no mortgage, court seizure or ownership dispute. Liu said it had an ownership certificate and could be transferred normally. Those details mattered because the buyer was acquiring a registered home, with responsibilities that continue after the promotional payment.

Property management, repairs and the practical costs of leaving a home empty were among the concerns raised online. No recurring cost schedule for this particular apartment was disclosed. For someone planning only occasional visits, those expenses become part of the holiday budget even during months when nobody stays there.

A Winter Retreat, Not a Permanent Move

The anonymous winner was described as coming from the Jiangsu and Zhejiang region. During a connection with the auction livestream, he said he did not intend to settle in Hegang and explained how he hoped to use the apartment:

I do not plan to move to Hegang permanently. I plan to use this apartment as a holiday home when I travel to northeastern China to see the snow. I am still considering what to do with it later.

His plan made the flat a place for winter trips rather than a replacement for his main home. It also left future decisions open, including how often he would visit and what he would eventually do with the property.

A similar promotion had attracted attention in November 2024, when a woman bought a seaside apartment measuring about 40 square metres in Weihai, Shandong province, for 11 yuan. That property was valued at less than 50,000 yuan at the time. Both purchases used a tiny headline price to draw attention to homes worth much more.

The Second Auction Was Halted

The second Hegang property was in Xingshan district, measured 67.52 square metres and carried an estimated market value of about 25,000 yuan. Its auction was due to begin at 3 p.m. on November 10, using the same starting price and 11 yuan cap.

By late November 7, the platform displayed a notice saying that auction had been halted at the consignor's request. Registration eventually reached 22,559, with about 223,100 page views. The public notice gave no further explanation for the request.

The main developments were:

• November 5: The first apartment sold for 11 yuan after 1,001 bids.
• November 6: The organiser confirmed the sale and said the buyer had started the paperwork.
• Late November 7: The platform showed that the second event had been halted.
• November 10: The second auction had been scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
• Within one month of the successful bid: The first buyer was required to complete the ownership transfer.

The cancelled event attracted more than 13 times the registrations for the completed sale, comparing 22,559 with 1,677. That surge shows how quickly attention grew after the first result circulated, even though only one property was available in each event.

What Hegang's Other Prices Show

The auction organiser's estimate of about 40,000 yuan for the completed sale works out at roughly 585 yuan per square metre. Other figures circulating with the story described resale properties in the same complex at about 2,700 yuan per square metre. Applied to 68.36 square metres, that rate would produce about 184,572 yuan. The gap between the individual valuation and the complex average was not explained.

Hegang's wider market also contains several price levels. Zhang Bo, director of the 58 Anjuke Research Institute, cited an average asking price of about 2,136 yuan per square metre for resale homes across the city. An asking price is the amount a seller seeks; the final negotiated sale price may be different.

Zhang described some older homes in former industrial or mining areas at roughly 1,000 to 1,400 yuan per square metre, with extreme listings around 500 yuan. At the other end, higher quality residential projects averaged more than 4,800 yuan per square metre, according to information attributed to the city's housing and urban development bureau.

Location, building age, condition and nearby services therefore matter greatly to the price. A subsidised payment, an individual property's estimated value, a citywide asking average and the price of newer developments each answer a different question about what a buyer might spend.

A City Selling More Housing

Hegang's commercial housing sales area rose from 35,800 square metres in 2019 to 168,000 square metres in 2025, according to figures attributed to local authorities. That is about 4.7 times the earlier total, or an increase of roughly 369%. Sales area measures the amount of floor space sold, rather than the number of homes or their prices.

The city's 2026 government work report described six consecutive years of growth in sales area, while housing department information described seven. The figures cited for the 2019 and 2025 endpoints were the same. Real estate's share of local fixed asset investment also rose from 3.6% to 6% over that period.

Hegang has promoted newer housing designed for its cold climate. The housing bureau described a local residential project with ceiling heights of 3.15 to 3.3 metres, usable space equal to 83% of its stated floor area, and energy consumption more than 40% below that of traditional housing. The project was identified as a provincial demonstration of buildings using very little energy.

Those features help explain why some newer homes command much higher prices than older stock. Buyers comparing apartments need to consider what the price includes, from usable indoor space to insulation and the condition of the building, rather than looking at the purchase figure alone.

Outside Buyers Bring Different Plans

Purchases by people from outside Hegang increased by 171% between 2021 and 2025, according to figures cited in local housing coverage. Zhang said outside buyers accounted for more than 30% of resale transactions from 2025 onward. Remote workers, freelancers and people seeking seasonal homes were among the groups drawn by lower housing costs.

Liu Mingyue, an outside buyer who settled in Hegang, bought an apartment of more than 80 square metres in Xingshan district in 2021. Her total expenditure, including renovation and decoration, exceeded 200,000 yuan. She said the city's environment and slower pace of life mattered alongside the price.

Her experience differs from that of the 11 yuan winner, who intended only occasional winter stays. Both illustrate how people arriving from elsewhere can use Hegang housing in different ways: as a permanent home, a base for remote work or a place for holidays.

Zhang also pointed to the limits of that demand. Hegang's resident population was still shrinking, and many incoming purchasers paid in full for a single home rather than participating in a chain of sales and replacement purchases. Outside interest could help particular developments sell while older properties continued to take a long time to find buyers.

What Buyers Need to Check

Wang Yuchen, founding partner of Beijing Jinsu Law Firm, warned that commercial property auctions can involve disputed ownership, undisclosed taxes, unpaid management charges and mortgage debts. Resolving ownership problems through litigation can be expensive. He also identified risks involving deposit supervision and sellers using artificial bids to push prices higher.

A separate example in Rushan, Shandong, illustrated the need to check listings carefully. A 44 square metre apartment attracted 149 bids and showed a completed auction price of 86,000 yuan. A listing with the same photographs and floor area was still advertised elsewhere for 98,000 yuan, and an agent said it remained available for viewings. The status of the apparent duplicate listing was unresolved.

Zhang recommended that platforms clearly label subsidised promotions, identify who pays the subsidy and explain the rules. He also proposed keeping promotional prices separate from ordinary housing price statistics, checking ownership before auctions, registering completed transactions and supervising purchase funds.

Yan Yuejin, deputy director of the Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute, highlighted another practical issue: an inexpensive older home can be difficult to sell later. A small pool of potential buyers can mean a long wait or a substantial price reduction, while repairs and other ownership expenses continue.

Hegang's real estate brokerage industry association advised purchasers to inspect homes in person, compare several properties and check ownership, property type, management services and nearby facilities. For the latest winner, the financial benefit was unusually large. For other shoppers, the more useful calculation is the full cost of buying, maintaining and eventually selling the home.

Key Points

• A 68.36 square metre apartment in Hegang sold for 11 yuan during an Alibaba Auction promotion on November 5.
• The platform subsidised the purchase, and the first successful bidder to reach the fixed cap won.
• The buyer faced about 2,000 yuan in transfer taxes, plus a service fee and future ownership expenses.
• The organiser valued the flat at about 40,000 yuan and said it could legally change hands.
• A second promotional auction scheduled for November 10 was halted at the consignor's request.
• Hegang has a wide range of housing prices, with older properties and newer residential projects serving different buyers.
• Lawyers and property researchers advised buyers to verify ownership, charges, auction rules and the likely cost of reselling.