The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Korea mulls 50-year mortgages for newlyweds

By Choi Si-young

Published : May 25, 2022 - 21:37

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The Yoon Suk-yeol government is considering extending mortgage loan maturity terms for newlyweds and young Koreans aged 19-39 as part of efforts to follow through on a pledge to help young people acquire their homes, amid runaway housing prices in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Under the new plan, young people would be able to repay their loan over 50 years, instead of 40 years, the longest repayment period currently offered to newlyweds and Koreans in that age group.

“The 50-year loan scheme will be a new addition to the loan plan we’ve been running,” an official at the Financial Services Commission said, referring to the loan program offering five different maturities for mortgage loans: 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 years.

The new loan is expected to be out as early as next year, as financial authorities look into other ways to ease rules for first-time homebuyers. Authorities are discussing taking into account “future earnings” of those seeking loans to a greater extent than they have so far.

The previous Moon Jae-in government rolled out measures to curb runaway housing prices, which have soared at a record pace for the last five years. Moon himself said the efforts to curb prices had fallen short of expectations.