Home transactions up 42.6 pct in November

SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Yonhap) -- Home sales in South Korea rose 42.6 percent in November from a year earlier amid a rise in housing prices, data showed Friday.

The number of housing transactions across the country came to 92,413 in November, compared with 65,000 during the same period last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The number of home sales in Seoul jumped 85.7 percent on-year to 17,313 in November. It represents a 22.4 percent hike from October.

Financial Services Commission Chairman Eun Sung-soo has recently warned of a home price bubble, saying, "It's a matter of time until house prices fall sharply, though it is not clear whether the decline will occur in the next five or 10 years."

On Monday, the government imposed stricter lending rules for home purchases, expanded adoption of a presale price cap for newly built apartments and a hike in property taxes on multiple homeowners.

Housing prices in South Korea have been on the rise in recent years, spurring policymakers to roll out a series of measures, including tightened home-backed loan regulations and hefty taxation, to cool down home prices.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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