Alibaba to auction houses during Double 11 shopping festival

(ECNS) -- For the first time, e-commerce giant Alibaba will put houses on the shelf for the 11th Double 11 shopping festival that falls on Nov. 11, Beijing News reported on Tuesday. 

Also known as China's Single's Day, November 11 has become an online shopping spree since its start in 2009 when Alibaba's Tmall first introduced the online sales promotion. 

In the upcoming festival, Alibaba’s auction arm will promote tens of thousands of homes for sale, including apartments in popular school zones, close to subways or with great views. 

Alibaba said the online auction platform attracted nearly 30 million visitors to search for homes in the last year. The site also helps courts auction off a trove of assets from many cities. 

Sun Jungong, vice president of Alibaba, said sales in the auction business could account for 30 percent of the total Chinese e-commerce market in the next five years.