Home transactions in South Korea plunged more than 50 percent on-year in February amid tough lending curbs and rising interest rates, data showed Friday.

The number of homes changing hands nationwide stood at 43,179 units in February, down 50.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Compared with the previous month, however, the February tally was up 3.5 percent.

Home transactions in the greater Seoul area, which includes the western port city of Incheon and the adjacent province of Gyeonggi, nose-dived 66 percent on-year, with those in the rest of the country dipping 31.7 percent.

February's tumble in home transactions came amid tighter restrictions on mortgages and rising lending rates following the central bank's hike of the country's benchmark interest rate.

In an effort to curb rising home prices and household debt, the government has made it harder for homebuyers to take out mortgages.

In mid-January, the central Bank of Korea (BOK) raised its policy rate by a quarter percentage point to 1.25 percent, the third rate hike since August, in a bid to help tame inflation and household debt.

The ministry, meanwhile, said the country's new home permits swelled 17.2 percent on-year to 70,128 units in February.

Yet, the number of groundbreakings for new homes sank 36.9 percent on-year to 44,352 units in February, with that of unsold apartments and houses rising 16.2 percent to 25,254 units, according to the data. (Yonhap)