Household loan growth slows down in Nov. amid tight lending rules

Household loans extended by Korean banks grew at a slower pace in November amid tightened lending regulations aimed at cooling the overheated property market in the capital region, central bank data showed Wednesday. Banks' outstanding household loans stood at 1,175.6 trillion won ($799.62 billion) as of end-November, up 1.9 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK). The growth slowed from the 3.5 trillion-won increase tallied in the previous month. Home-backed loans rose 700 billion won on-month to 935.5 trillion won, decelerating from a 2 trillion-won gain in October. Unsecured and other types of household loans climbed 1.2 trillion won to 239.2 trillion won in November, following a 1.4 trillion won gain a month earlier. "Mortgage loans grew at a slower clip despite the increase in housing transactions prior to the Oct. 15 measures, as banks continued to tighten household lending and demand for jeonse loans declined," a BOK official said. Under the tightened rules announced in mid-October, the government designated 21 more districts in Seoul as speculativeWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times