South Korea's property market is recovering from a long slump with home transactions picking up recently, the finance minister said Wednesday, rebuffing media reports that the market conditions remain harsh for many people.

"Thanks to the government's policy support, the volume of home transactions came to 109,000 last month, the most in eight years,"

Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan told a meeting with other policymakers in Seoul. 

"The housing market is returning to normal like this but media reports frequently say that the market is slipping back to a slump," he said. "I ask you to work actively to make the real market situation known to people and the market."

The remarks come as many are worried about a prolonged slump in the housing market where home prices remain subdued compared with peak years and people with less deep pockets are having a hard time paying for sharply rising home rental fees. 

Since his inauguration in July, Choi has unveiled diverse measures including tax breaks to bolster almost frozen home transactions, many of which are not being enforced as they are mired in bickering in the National Assembly.

Choi underlined the importance of the passage of such bills to keep up the recent upward trend in the housing market.

Meanwhile, on the trade front, the minister promised follow-up measures aimed at "maximizing" the effect of recently concluded free trade deals with China, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. (Yonhap)