South Korea's home transactions continued to rise from a year earlier in September, the government said Tuesday, apparently reflecting a recent surge in demand for homes triggered by a government move to limit the supply of new homes in the future as a way of curbing household debts.

The number of home transactions came to 91,612 last month, up 6.3 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.


September marked the second consecutive month of increase following a 13.6 percent on-year plunge in July. In August, home transactions gained 4.3 percent on-year to 98,130.

The apparent boom in the housing market followed a set of government measures, announced late August, that sought to limit the rapid increase in household debts, partly by reducing the number of new homes to be built and supplied over the next few years.

Such a move came as the overall amount owed by South Korean households came to a record high of 1,257.3 trillion won ($1,109 billion) as of end-June, with home-backed loans, mostly considered mortgage loans, coming to 500.9 trillion won, accounting for 75 percent of the total 667.5 trillion won extended by local lenders.

While the planned reduction in new homes drove people to purchase homes in anticipation of price hikes, it has apparently pushed the construction industry into a further recession with the number of new home construction permits issued plunging 20.8 percent on-year in August.

The recently created demand for homes, however, was only limited to Seoul and its immediate surrounding areas, home to nearly half of the country's population of 50 million.

The number of home transactions in Seoul spiked 14.6 percent on-year to 21,649, while home transactions in the entire capital region that includes the western port city of Incheon and Gyeonggi Province also surged 12.9 percent.

Home transactions in the rest of the country slipped 1.2 percent to 41,338.

The ministry earlier said the number of unsold homes in rural areas outside of Seoul stood at 41,206 as of end-August, more than double from 20,565 at end-2014.

By housing type, the number of home transactions involving apartment units and row houses gained 9.2 percent and 5 percent on-year, respectively, in September, while those involving detached houses dropped 4.2 percent. (Yonhap)