Home transactions up 0.9 pct in August

SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- Home sales in South Korea rose 0.9 percent in August compared with a year earlier amid signs of a rise in housing prices, government data showed Thursday.

The number of housing transactions last month came to 66,506, compared with 65,945 a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The number of home sales in Seoul declined 0.5 percent on-year to 13,514, but those in provincial areas jumped 14.2 percent over the same period to 31,216.

Market watchers said a rebound in home prices in recent months may have prodded people to purchase houses.

For the first eight months, the number of home transactions stood at 447,963, down 21 percent from the same period last year, when the nation's real estate market was considered overheated.

The Moon Jae-in administration has introduced a series of regulations in recent years to cool down the country's property market, including heavy taxation and toughened mortgage rules.

Recently, the government announced it will adopt a "presale price-cap system" for new private apartments, the strongest-ever step to rein in a rise in home prices.

kdon@yna.co.kr
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