The housing market in Korea faces growing optimism on its path to recovery following months of rate freezes, with a record number of would-be homebuyers interested in purchasing homes ― for the first time in two years.
Also, more than 60 percent of all transactions in the house lease market for the second consecutive month as of April were for “jeonse” contracts, a unique rental system in Korea in which a tenant gives the landlord a large fixed-sum deposit over a rent period of typically two years.
The ratio of jeonse contracts went down to as low as 47.4 percent last December due to aggressive rate hikes delivered by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
“The increase in the number of would-be homeowners and also the jeonse rate in the housing market suggests more people are willing to take out housing loans following the rate freeze,” an industry source said, referring to the base rate that has remained unchanged at 3.5 percent since January.
