Home-backed loans from South Korean banks increased at the fastest pace in two years in November despite the government's anti-speculation measures, central bank data showed Wednesday.
The total value of outstanding mortgages extended by banks came to 603 trillion won ($535 billion) as of the end of last month, up 4.8 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.
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(Yonhap) |
The gain marked the largest on-month growth since November 2016, when mortgage lending rose 6.1 trillion won.
The BOK said the anti-speculation measures, enacted in mid-September to curb household debts and the overheated housing market, have not fully "fed into" the market.
It usually takes some two or three months to borrow money after signing a contract, added the central bank.
Non-mortgages, on the other hand, rose 1.9 trillion won to 218 trillion won in November, slowing sharply from a 4.2 trillion won on-month gain the previous month.
As a result, the balance of total household lending from banks reached 822.2 trillion won in November, up 6.7 trillion won from a month earlier.
"The growing trend of mortgages is expected to slow down soon to some extent thanks to the government's policies," the central bank said. (Yonhap)
