Published : Oct. 11, 2018 - 13:26
Household lending by South Korean banks grew at a slower pace in September than the previous month despite an increase in mortgages, central bank data showed Thursday.
Outstanding household loans from banks came to 807.7 trillion won ($707.9 billion) as of the end of last month, up 5.1 trillion won from June, according to the data from the Bank of Korea.
(Yonhap)
The on-month gain was lower than the 5.9 trillion won tallied in August.
But home-backed mortgages increased by 3.6 trillion won on-month to 594.7 trillion won last month -- the fastest on-month gain since July last year.
Non-mortgage loans, including lending through overdraft lines of credit, gained 1.4 trillion won on-month to 211.9 trillion won in September, slowing from the 2.5 trillion-won expansion tallied the previous month.
The central bank said that increased home transactions in the new semester season pushed mortgage loans up in September.
Some 12,000 apartment deals were closed in Seoul during the one-month period, up from the 7,000 contracts signed in August.
But it said the government's latest measures to curb household debts and the overheated housing market, announced on Sept. 13, are expected to affect bank lending schemes from next month. (Yonhap)