The image shows a branch of KB Kookmin Bank in Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — KB Kookmin Bank, one of South Korea’s major lenders, has decided to suspend new household loans for home purchases for the rest of 2025 amid government efforts to cool an overheated property market and curb household lending, officials said Friday.
New applications for mortgage loans for home purchases will be suspended starting Saturday for online and mobile channels, and from Monday for in-person applications.
The bank will also halt refinancing of mortgage, jeonse and unsecured loans from other banks, as well as non-face-to-face unsecured loan products, starting Saturday.
“We aim to maintain an appropriate year-end household loan portfolio,” a KB official said. “But mortgage loans for stable living purposes and jeonse loans scheduled for execution within the year will still be available.”
Jeonse is a unique housing rental system in South Korea in which tenants make a large lump-sum deposit that is fully returned at the end of their lease agreements.
KB Kookmin’s move follows a similar decision by Hana Bank, which earlier announced it would restrict new mortgage and jeonse loan applications starting Tuesday.
Such actions come as the government is striving to rein in rising home prices and household debt through tighter lending rules and stricter regulations for home purchases in Seoul and surrounding areas.
Household credit in South Korea had reached a record high of 1,968.3 trillion won (US$1.34 trillion) as of end-September by rising 14.9 trillion won from three months earlier.
It marked the sixth consecutive quarterly increase, though the growth has slowed markedly from the second quarter amid regulations.
(Yonhap)
