The number of South Koreans who moved to different parts of the country declined in January amid a decrease in housing transactions, data showed Wednesday.

The number of people who changed their residences fell 2.2 percent on-year to 633,000 in January, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The tally declined last month after rising for the seventh straight month in December 2020 amid skyrocketing home prices.

The population mobility rate -- the number of those relocating per 100 people -- remained at 14.5 percent in January, down 0.4 percentage point from a year earlier.

The statistics agency said people's movements fell last month as housing transactions decreased ahead of the government's announcement of its housing supply plan early this month.

Transactions of houses declined 35.4 percent in January from a month earlier, according to separate data by the land ministry.

The government unveiled a plan to increase the number of new homes by up to 836,000 nationwide in the next four years in a bid to help stabilize rising housing prices.

The country has rolled out a series of comprehensive measures to stem rising home prices, including tax hikes and loan regulations. But the measures have resulted in only a short-term letup in housing price increases. (Yonhap)