With expectations that the global cycle of lending rate cuts is ending and the recent Middle East crisis overlapping, mortgage loan rates have recently risen. The burden on the "youngkkul" (scraping together every last cent to buy dwellings) and "bit-too" (borrowing to invest) crowd is expected to grow.
According to the financial industry on the 15th, as of the 13th, the mixed (fixed) mortgage rates (based on 5-year bank debentures) at KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, and Woori Bank were analyzed to be in the 4.250–6.504% per-year range. Compared with Jan. 16 (4.130–6.297% per year), the upper end rose 0.207 percentage points and the lower end 0.120 percentage points in about two months. This is because the 5-year bank debenture yield, the main indicator for fixed rates, climbed 0.280 percentage points over the same period from 3.580% to 3.860%.
Nevertheless, as of the 12th, the total outstanding loan balance of household loans at the five major banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH Nonghyup) was 766.5501 trillion won, up 684.7 billion won from the end of February.
Mortgage loans fell by 830.2 billion won due to various government real estate regulations, but unsecured credit loans surged by 1.4327 trillion won. If this increase persists through month's end, it is set to mark the largest figure in 4 years and 8 months since July 2021 (+1.8637 trillion won).
A commercial bank official said, "The recent increase in bank unsecured credit loans is mainly due to transfers to securities firms," noting, "When the KOSPI and KOSDAQ plunged recently, daily transfers to securities firms exceeded 150 billion won on some days."