New housing permits in Korea jumped 61.3 percent in February from a year earlier, data showed Thursday, amid the government's efforts to prop up the local real estate market.

The number of new home permits issued came to 53,723 last month, up from 33,301 a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

January marked the 14th consecutive month of an on-year increase in new home permits.

February's sharp rise is driven by a robust gain in permits issued in the capital region, including Seoul and its surrounding area, that are home to nearly 50 percent of the country's population of 50 million.

Construction permit numbers more than doubled to 27,065 in February from 13,363 a year ago, while rural areas saw their housing permits jump 33.7 percent on-year to 26,658.

For the first two months of 2016, the number of housing construction permits issued by authorities rose 52.1 percent on-year to 101,259 from 66,572 reported for the same period last year.

Reflecting the rise in demand for dwellings, the number of actual groundbreakings for new homes throughout the country came to 32,106 last month, up 24.7 percent from a year before.

The Seoul government has come up with a series of stimulus measures to boost the local property market and the entire economy. It lifted reconstruction regulations and eased other financial hurdles to let people easily borrow money and buy or rent houses, while the central bank cut the base rate to a record low of 1.5 percent. (Yonhap)