South Korean banks’ mortgage rates highest in over 7 years

mortgage rates

Banks’ mortgage loan rate averaged 3.51 per cent in November, up 0.25 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea

South Korean banks’ mortgage rates hit the highest in more than 7 years in November amid rising borrowing costs, central bank data showed Thursday.

Banks’ mortgage loan rate averaged 3.51 per cent in November, up 0.25 percentage point from a month earlier, according to the data by the Bank of Korea (BOK).

This marked the highest since July 2014, when the corresponding rate was 3.54 per cent.

Banks’ unsecured loan rate also rose 0.54 percentage point to 5.16 per cent last month, the highest level since September 2014, when it was 5.29 per cent.

The average interest rate on household loans thus rose to 3.61 per cent in November from 3.46 per cent the prior month, the highest since the 3.61 per cent in December 2018.

Loan rates have been on the rise recently in line with the government’s drive to put a lid on fast growing household debt and the central bank’s rate hikes intended to tame inflation.

In late November, the BOK raised its policy rate by 0.25 percentage point to 1 per cent, three months after it announced a quarter percentage point rate hike in August.

The average rate for bank deposits, meanwhile, came to 1.57 per cent in November, up 0.28 percentage point from a month earlier, the BOK said.

South Korean lenders’ loan-deposit spread, a gauge of banks’ profitability from lending, stood at 1.66 percentage points last month, lower than October’s 1.78 percentage points.

The Bank of Korea was the first major developed country to start raising interest rates earlier this year, having raised rates twice as part of efforts to slow down growth in household debt.

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