▲ This photo taken Aug. 7, 2026, shows apartment complexes in southeastern Seoul. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's household credit rose at the fastest pace in nearly five years to an all-time high in the second quarter on rising demand for housing and investment-related loans, central bank data showed Wednesday.

Outstanding household credit stood at a record 2,019.8 trillion won (US$1.43 trillion) as of end-June, up 25.9 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The on-quarter increase marked the largest since the third quarter of 2021, when the balance shot up by 34.8 trillion won.

Household credit refers to credit purchases and loans extended to households by financial institutions.

"The sharp increase came with a rise in housing transactions in the quarter before the exemption of capital gains tax expired," said Kim Sung-jun, head of the monetary and financial statistics team at the BOK. "At the same time, non-mortgage loans increased as well in an apparent move to invest in the booming stock market."

In detail, household loans stood at 1,891.3 trillion won at the end of June, up 24.9 trillion won from three months earlier, marking the largest on-quarter increase since the third quarter of 2021.

Of the total, mortgage lending rose 12.2 trillion won to 1,190.8 trillion won, while non-mortgage loans increased 12.8 trillion won to 700.5 trillion won.

Credit purchases climbed 900 billion won on-quarter to 128.5 trillion won, slowing from a 1.4 trillion-won rise in the first quarter, the latest findings showed.

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