Population mobility dips for 13th month in Jan.

The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country dropped for the 13th consecutive month in January on fewer housing transactions, government data showed Wednesday.

The number of people who changed their residences stood at 552,000 last month, down 12.8 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

It represented the 13th straight month since January last year that the country's population mobility has declined on-year.

The decrease was attributed mainly to the base effect as people's mobility shot up a year earlier amid increased housing transactions caused by soaring home prices.

The population mobility rate -- the percentage of those relocating per 100 people -- reached 12.7 percent in January, down 1.8 percentage points from a year earlier.

Housing prices in Asia's fourth-largest economy have recently swung to a downturn in the wake of rising interest rates and tighter lending rules.

In mid-January, the Bank of Korea (BOK) raised its key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.25 percent, the third rate hike since the BOK made its first pandemic-era rate hike in August last year.

The government has also unleashed a series of measures, including tougher loan regulations and tax hikes, to rein in rising home prices. (Yonhap)