Yicai) May 28 -- A 100-year-old villa in downtown Shanghai designed by Hungarian architect László Ede Hudec was sold at an auction for CNY270 million (USD37.5 million).

The property, which has two gardens and a floor area of 535 square meters, was sold yesterday after 19 rounds of bidding between two participants at a price of CNY504,600 per sqm, according to Alibaba Group Holding's judicial auction platform. The final price represented an 8 percent premium over the starting price of CNY250 million.

Designed by Hudec, the villa began construction in 1923 and was completed in 1925. It is located in the Xinhua Road Historical and Cultural Block, one of the 12 historical zones in central Shanghai and also one of the four major Shanghai-style community areas.

The villa was initially listed for sale on the secondary market for CNY350 million in November last year after the owner's bankruptcy liquidation, Yicai learned.

Despite the astronomical price, this was not the most expensive property sold at a judicial auction in Shanghai.

In 2021, a villa in Pudong New Area was auctioned for CNY315 million (USD43.7 million), setting a national record price for a single-residence judicial auction. Meanwhile, a garden villa in Shanghai's Jing'an district sold for a record unit price of CNY1.01 million (USD140,139) per sqm during a judicial auction in April last year.

Judicial auctions have recently become very popular in China. Even though judicial auction transactions account for only 0.6 percent of Chinese core cities' second-hand home market, their outcomes significantly influence buyers' expectations, Song Hongwei, co-dean of the Tospur Research Institute, previously told Yicai.

If the judicial auction market continues to heat up, buyers' perception of the overall market's vitality will also increase, Song predicted.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione