Nanjing 'murder villa' snapped up at bargain price

A villa where a murder occurred in Nanjing, capital of east China’s Jiangsu Province, has been snapped up for 7.86 million yuan (US$1.23 million) during an online judicial auction on June 12 after 138 rounds with 22 bidders, thepaper.cn reported.

Although the final transaction price was 80 percent higher than the starting price of 4.35 million yuan, and the estimated sale price was just 6.18 million yuan, the final price was still much lower than the market value of about 12.36 million yuan, the report said.

The auction, arranged by the People’s Court in the city’s Qinhuai District, was supposed to end by 10am on the day, but it was postponed 93 times due to intense bidding.

According to the court, the villa was a hard sell because of a murder that happened there seven years ago. No one has been willing to live in the house since, and the starting price has been lowered several times after previous auctions failed.