Government doubles down on efforts to cool real estate market

The government is set to unveil another set of real estate measures this week, the third so far, aimed at curbing rising household debt amid expectations that the central bank will raise rates in the coming months, industry sources said Sunday.

The measures, due Tuesday, come as a rise in home prices shows no sign of abating despite a series of government measures including stricter lending rules.

Over the past few years, home prices in Korea have continued to rise on the back of low interest rates. Last month, the amount of mortgages increased by 3.3 trillion won ($2.9 billion) to reach 561 trillion won, faster than the 3.1 trillion won rise the previous month.

In August, the Moon Jae-in administration tightened rules on mortgages as part of efforts to curb snowballing household debt, which many have cited as a key potential risk to Korea.

In early September, the government announced a fresh set of regulations to cool the overheated market. The follow-up measures targeted Bundang District south of Seoul and Suseong District in Daegu. Yonhap