The title of the article suggests that household loans have decreased by an average of 14.12 million KRW due to regulatory measures. However, the Bank of Korea indicates that there might be a slight increase in the first quarter.
In the last quarter of the previous year, continuous real estate regulations led to a slight reduction in the average household loan value per borrower. According to the “Statistics on Household Debt by Borrower” released by the Bank of Korea on the 24th, the average new household loan amount per borrower in the fourth quarter was 34.43 million KRW, which is 4.09 million KRW less than the third quarter.
The change in new household loan amount had increased by 2.6 million KRW in the second quarter last year, but started to decrease with the tightening of real estate regulations in the third quarter (+260,000 KRW) and further decreased in the fourth quarter. The average new amount for home mortgage loans, which constituted 40.9% of the household loans, sharply fell by 14.21 million KRW compared to the previous quarter.
By age group, the most significant decrease was seen in people in their 30s, with a decline of 32.59 million KRW. They were followed by those in their 40s (-13.16 million KRW) and 20s (-9.93 million KRW). Among new mortgage loans, the proportions were highest for people in their 30s (37.1%), 40s (29.5%), and 50s (18.3%).
Regionally, household mortgage loans in the metropolitan area decreased the most, showing a drop of 37.14 million KRW, while increases were observed in regions like the southeastern area (+25.77 million KRW), Gangwon-Jeju area (+24.42 million KRW), and Daegu-Gyeongbuk area (+21.88 million KRW).
Min Sook-hong, head of the Bank of Korea’s Household Debt Microstatistical Team, explained that measures like the “10/15 Housing Market Stabilization Measures” led to a decrease in new loans and the number of borrowers compared to the previous quarter. This decrease was mostly in the 30s age group, metropolitan areas, banks, and mortgage loan-related household loans.
Looking ahead, it’s projected that there might be a slight increase in household loans in the first quarter of this year due to the demand for moving and eased rules for multiple homeowners, possibly leading to an increase in housing transactions in the metropolitan area.
In the fourth quarter, the average outstanding balance of household loans per borrower increased by 650,000 KRW to 97.39 million KRW compared to the third quarter. The average balance on mortgage loans per borrower also increased by 2.01 million KRW to 158.27 million KRW.
Increases were primarily observed among people in their 20s (+4.24 million KRW), 40s (+4.23 million KRW), and in regions like the southeastern area (+3.2 million KRW) and Chungcheong area (+2.17 million KRW). The highest average balance was found in the 30s age group at 225.41 million KRW, followed by those in their 20s (192.87 million KRW) and 40s (181.86 million KRW).