Mortgage loans at South Korean lenders increased at a record pace in December as home buyers continued to borrow more amid an eased lending policy and low interest rates, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Outstanding home-backed loans extended by local banks reached 406.9 trillion won ($377.6 billion) as of the end of December, adding a record 6.2 trillion won from the previous month, according to the preliminary data by the Bank of Korea.

Overall household lending growth slightly slowed from the previous month, but continued to post sharp gains for a third straight month after the central bank lowered the policy rate to 2 percent.

Outstanding bank loans to households came in at 560.9 trillion won last month, up 6.6 trillion won from the end of November. The figure has been trending higher since August, when the government eased lending rules. This was followed by two rate cuts by the central bank.

Loans to households gained 2.8 trillion won in July, but the figure soared to 4.6 trillion won in August. In October, its monthly growth hit a record 6.9 trillion won and has since been logging a 6 trillion-won level gain each month.

"It's notable that the overall loan growth has posted high gains for a third straight month. On top of eased regulation and low interest rates, robust trading of new homes seems to have prompted the increase," Han Seung-cheol, an official on the BOK's financial market team, said.

The data comes a day ahead of the central bank's monthly policy-setting meeting. In a poll by Yonhap Infomax, the financial news arm of Yonhap News Agency, 20 of 22 analysts forecast the BOK to keep the base rate on hold as it gauges the impact of previous rate cuts.

Analysts also said the central bank is unlikely to take a move this month as the government pushes structural reforms over short-term policies in boosting growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy. (Yonhap)