Bank lending to Korean households rose slower in December 

Home mortgage lending continued to expand, but other loans contracted.

Bank lending extended to South Korea’s household sector grew by a smaller margin in December, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Bank lending to households– including loans assigned to the Korea Housing Finance Corporation– rose by KRW3.1t in December 2023, lower than the KRW5.4t extended in November 2023. This is much higher than the KRW0.3t rise in household loans for December 2022.

The rise was buoyed by home mortgage lending expanding during the month, but was dragged down by other types of consumer loans contracting.

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Home mortgage lending grew by KRW5.2t during the month, slightly lower than the KRW5.7t in November. BOK blamed this to the fall in housing sale transactions.

Leasehold deposit loans grew by a meager KRW0.1t in December, from having close to zero changes in November.

Other loans contracted by KRW2t during the month, much higher than the KRW0.4t contraction in November, although BOK noted that the larger decrease was simply due to “seasonal factors.”