Seoul, June 15 (IANS) Household loans extended by five major banks in South Korea continue to be on the rise, data showed on Sunday, amid a boost in local stock markets and signs of overheating in the housing market.

Household loans extended by the five major commercials banks here, including KB Kookmin, Shinhan and KEB Hana, gained nearly 2 trillion won (US$1.46 billion) since the start of this month, reaching 750.08 trillion won as of Thursday, according to the data.

The banks have reported a continued increase in new household loans from a 1.8 trillion won on-month gain in March to 4.5 trillion won in April and 4.99 trillion won last month, reports Yonhap news agency.

Unsecured loans came to 103.9 trillion won, increasing by 600 billion won over the same period to reach the highest level since November.

Market watchers attributed the recent rise in household loans to strong demand for investment in the real estate and financial markets.

The five major banks extended more than 3 trillion won in fresh home-backed loans for house purchases in the first 12 days of this month, according to data, with home prices in Seoul jumping at the fastest clip in nearly a year.

Last week, Seoul’s apartment sale prices rose by 0.25 percent from the previous week, marking the highest weekly increase since August last year, separate data from the Korea Real Estate Board showed.

Amid the signs of a heat-up in the housing market, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service plan to hold a meeting with officials from financial institutions, including major banks, Monday to call for measures to rein in the recent spikes in household loans, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Meanwhile, a big portion of the unsecured loans is assumed to be used for stock and cryptocurrency purchases, with investors’ deposits at securities firms having reached 62.9 trillion won as of Thursday, the highest in more than three years, according to data compiled by the Korea Financial Investment Association.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) had risen for seven consecutive sessions until Thursday, surpassing the 2,900-point mark for the first time since Jan. 14, 2022.

—IANS

na/