South Korea's home transactions dipped in September from a year earlier mainly due to the Chuseok holiday that reduced the number of working days available to make purchases, the government said Sunday.

In September, the number of housing purchase transactions reached 86,152, a 0.6 percent dip from a year earlier, and down 8.5 percent compared to August, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.

Transaction data is one of the key indicators of economic activity, with more purchases generally translating into more consumer confidence.

Of the total, the number of homes purchased in Seoul and its surrounding regions of Gyeonggi Province and Incheon rose 6.8 percent on-year to 45,932, although it dipped 7.9 percent from the previous month, the ministry said.

"Chuseok, which fell toward the end of the month, not only resulted in fewer days for deals to be inked, but caused people to put off buying a home until after the traditional holidays," the ministry said.

Chuseok, or Korean Thanksgiving, is marked by the lunar calendar so its date changes from year to year. In 2014, it fell in early September. People usually travel to their hometowns to visit family and friends and exchange gifts.

The latest data, however, showed that in the first nine months of this year, nationwide home purchases hit 901,733 cases, up a sharp 26.4 percent on-year. Transactions in Seoul and its surrounding regions soared 41.8 percent from the year before to 462,876 cases.

The ministry's latest report also showed that transactions for apartments fell 9.4 percent on-year last month, while sales of single-residence homes, townhouses and residential multiplexes all rose.

For the January-September period, sales of apartments, single-residence homes, townhouses and residential multiplexes all increased from the same period in 2014. (Yonhap)