South Korea’s household debt grew at the slowest pace in three years in January from the previous month, helped by tougher loan regulation and subdued housing demand in the winter season.
According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Thursday, outstanding household loans from banks totaled 708.2 trillion won ($618 billion) as of the end of January, up 58.5 billion won from the previous month. It is the lowest monthly increase since January 2014. The household debt grew by 3.4 trillion won in December and 2.1 trillion won in the same month last year.
Mortgage loans amounted 533.7 trillion won, up 801.5 billion won from the previous month in the smallest gain since March 2014.
The easing may have been due to the Lunar New Year’s holiday and growing concerns for higher interest rates tracking increases in U.S. interest rates.
Trade in apartments in Seoul dropped to 5,000 deals last month from 9,000 in the previous month.
By Kim Tae-sung
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