April 16, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean mortgage payments have risen modestly due to rising market interest rates, data showed on April 17.

Annual mortgage rates charged by major commercial banks, including KB Kookmin Bank and Shinhan Bank, rose 0.03 percentage point on April 17 from a day earlier.

The increase was attributed to a rise in COFIX, a benchmark lending rate for mortgage loans.

COFIX averaged 1.78 percent in March, up 0.03 percentage point from a month earlier. The benchmark lending rate rose for the seventh consecutive month.

KB Kookmin Bank raised its rates on COFIX-linked home-backed loans as high as 4.67 percent. 

Shinhan Bank and Woori Bank also increased their rates on such loans as high as 4.4 percent and 4.18 percent, respectively.

Market watchers expected banks’ lending rates to rise at a faster pace amid expectations of a US rate increase later this year.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)