Excessive liquidity to raise housing prices, warns S. Korea's finance minister

South Korea's finance minister warned that excessive liquidity could increase property prices after the government pledged to spend 270 trillion won to counter the pandemic's aftereffect and the Bank of Korea (BOK) slashing its key rate to an all-time low.

Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who assured that the government is closely monitoring the housing market, instructed ministry officials to review measures that could channel such liquidity into infrastructure projects.

In recent years, the rise in housing prices has prompted policymakers to introduce measures such as tightened home-backed loan regulations and higher taxes.

Home transactions in South Korea plunged over 30 percent in April from the previous month due to stricter property rules and the pandemic.

The 73,531 homes that changed hands nationwide in May is 32.3 percent lower from April.

However, the figure was 29 percent higher from May last year when housing transactions were anemic.