Even as household loan growth slows, mortgage loans increased by 4 trillion won in a month

Last month, the increase in South Korea's household loans slowed, but mortgage loans rose again due to housing transactions in the Seoul metropolitan area and demand for bridge loans for final payments. According to the Bank of Korea, the outstanding balance of household loans at deposittaking banks in August stood at 1,198.3 trillion won, up 3.4 trillion won from the previous month. The increase was the smallest since April, but the outstanding balance of mortgage loans rose by 4 trillion won in a month to 952.5 trillion won, widening the increase. On the other hand, other loans, including credit loans, fell by 600 billion won, turning to a decline for the first time in four months. The Bank of Korea analyzed that the impact came from stricter management of credit loans by banks and a slowdown in individual stock investment. Overall household loans across the financial sector, as tallied by the Financial Services Commission including secondary financial institutions, also increased by 2.6 trillion won in August, with the rate of increase slowing from the previous month. The financial authorities said mortgage loans could rise further due to the autumn moving season and the impact of managing group loans, and that they would continue to monitor related trends.