New home permits jump 22.5% this year

New home permits in South Korea jumped nearly 23 percent in the first nine months of the year amid high housing prices, government data showed Tuesday.

Construction permits issued for new homes came to 358,990 units in the January-September period, up 22.5 percent from a year ago, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

New construction permits in the South Korean capital of Seoul spiked 62.2 percent to 62,516 over the cited period.

New home permits issued in the capital area, which includes the western port city of Incheon and the adjacent province of Gyeonggi, surged 21.3 percent on-year and those in the rest of the country surged 23.9 percent.

By type, construction permits for new apartment buildings spiked 26 percent on-year in the first half, and those for other types of housing, such as row and detached houses, increased 13.2 percent.

Apartments have remained the most-favored housing choice for many South Koreans because of their comfort, convenient access to amenities and the possibility of price hikes.

Seoul -- home to about one-fifth of South Korea's population of 52 million -- is dotted with apartment buildings, including high-rises.

Meanwhile, the number of groundbreakings for new homes increased 13.1 percent on-year to 397,657 units in the nine-month period. The number for the capital area rose 7.9 percent from a year earlier, with that for the rest of the country swelling 18.7 percent.

The ministry also said home transactions in South Korea edged down 0.4 percent on-month to 81,631 in September. They were also down 8.3 percent from a year earlier.

The number of home transactions in Seoul sank 10.9 percent.

Apartment transactions fell 9.8 percent from a month earlier, with those of other housing types dropping 5.2 percent. (Yonhap)