South Korea’s home mortgage loan growth inch up in August

Resumption of non-face-to-face lending brings back household loans to a growth.

South Korea’s home mortgage loan growth rose slightly in August 2025, with an additional $2.81b (KRW3.9t) added during the month, according to data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

This comes on the back of an increase in housing transactions in May and June.

This is faster than the approximately $2.45b (KRW3.4) in new mortgage loans reported in July, official data showed.

Other types of household loans also reversed to an increase in August (from a KRW0.6t contraction to a KRW0.3t growth) led by the resumption of non-face-to-face lending. This had been temporarily suspended a month earlier.

However, the growth was limited due to the impact of the reduction in unsecured loan limits.