Korean housing mortgage loan rates rise to highest level in over two and a half years

Odaily reported that according to Yonhap News, data released by the Bank of Korea on Tuesday showed that due to rising market interest rates, the average interest rate on bank household housing mortgage loans rose for the second consecutive month, reaching its highest level in two years and seven months. The data indicates that the average interest rate on new bank loans last month was 4.31%, up 0.12 percentage points from the previous month. The average interest rate on corporate loans rose by 0.14 percentage points to 4.27%, while the average interest rate on new household loans increased by 0.04 percentage points to 4.5%. In June, the average interest rate on household housing mortgage loans rose by 0.04 percentage points to 4.36%, the highest level since November 2023. The average interest rate on non-mortgage household loans was 5.72%, up 0.23 percentage points from the previous month. The Bank of Korea stated that retail lending rates have been rising in recent months due to increasing market interest rates. Earlier this month, the Bank of Korea implemented its first interest rate hike in three and a half years.