SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean house prices weakened for an 11th consecutive month in April – its longest streak of declines in 11 years – but the pace of falls continued to slow, data showed on Monday.
The nationwide house price index fell 0.47% in April from the previous month, according to data from the Korea Real Estate Board.
That compares with a 0.78% drop in March and marks the fourth straight month that the pace of decline has slowed, a sign that aggressive interest rate hikes and cooling economic growth are having an impact.
The data showed the house price index fell by a combined 8.53% during the 11-month period, the worst since 2003 when the board began to release the data.
Still, the current cycle of decline was partly due a price correction following a non-stop rally over 32 months until May 2022, the data showed.
The government has responded to weakness in the property market by easing financial regulations for home buyers.
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(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)