SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean mortgage rates gained considerably in November from the previous month due to rising market interest ahead of a U.S. rate hike, data showed Thursday. Annual mortgage rates charged by South Korea’s top five lenders — KB Kookmin Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, KEB Hana Bank and NH [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The ratio of South Korean savings banks’ loans extended to households hit a record amid shrinking corporate investment, data showed Sunday. Their outstanding loans totaled 41.1 trillion won (US$34.9 billion) as of end-September, up 15.77 percent from the end of last year, according to the Bank of Korea’s economic [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – Korea is seeing a rising number of studio apartments built with “smart” features based on IoT, with the growing popularity of smart homes. According to construction industry watchers, these IoT-equipped efficiency apartments, also referred to as officetels in Korea, are particularly popular among members of the younger generation in their [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea will control the supply of new apartments in a bid to curb demand for mortgage loans, the main culprit for soaring household debt in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, government officials announced Thursday. Household credit jumped 11.1 percent on-year to an all-time high of 1,257.3 trillion won (US$1,123.5 billion) [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – Nearly half of new apartment units in Seoul are smaller than 60 square meters, industry data showed Monday, reflecting the trend that more people prefer smaller housing. Of 15,980 apartment complexes built between January and August of this year, 45.1 percent, or 7,205 units, have a total floor area [...]
SEJONG, July 26 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of South Koreans changing their residences dropped nearly 13 percent on-year in June as the housing market showed signs of slowing, the state statistics agency said Tuesday. A total of 567,000 South Koreans changed their residences in June, down 83,000, or 12.8 percent, from a year earlier, [...]
SEOUL, July 4 (Korea Bizwire) – The average home price in Seoul has surpassed 500 million won (US$434,103) last month, with analysts expecting more price jumps within this year to reach a new high, a market study by KB Kookmin Bank showed Monday. The average home price in the capital city hit 501.98 million won [...]
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean households are taking out loans at a faster clip than the increase in their income or ability to pay back, suggesting that household debt may cause serious problems down the road, the central bank said Thursday. In a report to the National Assembly, the Bank of Korea [...]
SEOUL, June 28 (Korea Bizwire) – Due to the stagnating economy and declining real estate sales, the number of Koreans migrating to different areas has declined in three consecutive months (as of May). The total number of domestic migrants in May was 589,000, the lowest figure for the month since May 1975 (480,000). Among those [...]
GEOJE, South Korea, June 23 (Korea Bizwire) – The prolonged struggles of Korea’s shipbuilding industry are affecting the housing market in Geoje, a city in South Gyeongsang Province. Geoje is made up of a number of islands just off the coast of Busan, and it is also the main hub for the two major shipbuilding [...]