SEOUL, December 10 (AJP) - Growth in South Korea’s mortgage lending slowed to its weakest pace in 20 months in November, as tighter bank lending standards and easing demand for rental deposit loans weighed on household borrowing, central bank data showed on Wednesday.
According to the Bank of Korea’s financial market trends report, outstanding household loans at deposit-taking banks, including policy mortgages, rose by 1.9 trillion won in November to 1,175.6 trillion won.
Mortgage loan balances increased by 7 trillion won to 935.5 trillion won, marking the smallest monthly rise since March 2024.
BOK official Park Min-cheol said total household lending across banks and non-bank financial institutions edged down to just over 4 trillion won, indicating continued deceleration in mortgage growth. He added that stricter loan management at banks had pushed some borrowing demand toward non-bank lenders.
In contrast, corporate lending accelerated. Bank loans to companies rose by 6.2 trillion won to 1,372.2 trillion won in November.
Loans to large corporations increased by 2.4 trillion won to 296.9 trillion won, while lending to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) rose by 3.8 trillion won to 1,075.3 trillion won.
* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.
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