Korean housing permits surge in Nov.

South Korea's new housing permits jumped 27.7 percent on-year in November, government data showed Wednesday, a sign that the country's real estate market is continuing to make headway.

The number of new home permits issued came to 62,823 last month, up from 49,181 a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

November marked the 11th consecutive month of an on-year increase, although the pace slowed from the 41.2 percent surge tallied for the previous month.

"The number of home building permits has been on the rise throughout the year, propped up by recovery in the local property market," the ministry said in a press release.

While overall numbers rose, permits issued in the capital region fell slightly, it said.

In the capital region that includes Seoul, the western port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, construction permit numbers stood at 26,103, a dip of 0.9 percent compared to the year before.

This region is home to nearly half the country's population of 50 million.

Permits issued to areas outside the capital region, on the other hand, soared 60.8 percent to 36,720.

For the first 11 months of 2015, the number of housing construction permits issued by authorities rose 49.6 percent on-year to 667,163 vis-a-vis 445,984 reported for the same period last year.

Reflecting the rise in demand for dwellings, the number of actual groundbreakings for new homes throughout the country came to 3,351 last month, up 28.5 percent from a year before. For the January-November period, the number rose 42 percent to 634,325. (Yonhap)