South Korea's June Household Mortgage Rates Rise to 2-Year, 7-Month High

According to Yonhap, banks' household mortgage loan rates in South Korea rose for a second straight month in June to their highest level in two years and seven months as market interest rates climbed. The Bank of Korea said the average interest rate on new bank loans reached 4.31% last month, up 0.12 percentage point from May, while corporate loan rates increased 0.14 percentage point to 4.27% and new household loan rates rose 0.04 percentage point to 4.5%. The average rate on household mortgage loans edged up 0.04 percentage point to 4.36%, the highest since November 2023, when it averaged 4.48%, and the rate on non-mortgage household loans climbed 0.23 percentage point to 5.72%. The central bank said retail lending rates have been moving higher in recent months as market interest rates rose. Earlier this month, the Bank of Korea raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 2.75%, the first increase in 3 1/2 years.