Seoul unveils another set of measures to cool housing prices

The government unveiled a fresh set of measures Friday aimed at curbing a sharp rise in prices of apartments in Seoul and its neighboring areas, the country's Finance Ministry said.

According to the measures, the government will continue to increase the housing supply to slow the rise in prices and strengthen the supervision of housing-backed loans extended by banks.

Also, the government will share the cost of building infrastructure facilities for residential blocks, and increase loans to low-income earners.

The measures, discussed at an emergency meeting of economy-related ministers, will be finalized next week after discussions with related agencies, according to the ministry.

In a similar move, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the top financial regulator, has instructed local commercial banks this week to submit data on their mortgage loans, the bank officials said. Based on the data, the FSS plans to begin an on-the-spot inspection of local banks on their compliance with the regulation on mortgage loans from next week.

Prices of apartments in Seoul rose more than 1.1 percent in the past 10 days, especially after the government's announcement of its plan to build a new satellite city west of Seoul.

According to the data compiled by Kookmin Bank, the country's leading lender, prices of apartments in Seoul have gained 10.3 percent in the first nine months of the year, already exceeding last year's 9.1-percent.

Data from the Bank of Korea, the country's central bank, show that mortgage loans grew by 2.6 trillion won (US$2.77 billion) in September from a month earlier, the fastest pace since May when they advanced by 3 trillion won.

In August last year, the government devised a set of anti-speculation measures, which include heavy taxation on multiple homeowners and restrictions on housing-related loans.

Seoul, Nov. 3 (Yonhap News)