The Korea Herald

피터빈트

Population mobility falls for 10th month in Oct.

By Yonhap

Published : Nov. 24, 2021 - 13:08

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This photo, taken on Monday, shows apartment buildings in Seoul. (Yonhap) This photo, taken on Monday, shows apartment buildings in Seoul. (Yonhap)
The number of South Koreans who moved to different residences in the country declined for the 10th straight month in October amid decreased housing transactions, data showed Wednesday.

The number of people who changed their residences fell 10.7 percent on-year to 540,000 last month, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

It marked the 10th consecutive month the number has dropped and represented the sharpest on-year decline since a 10.9 percent fall in June 2019.

The decline was mainly attributable to tepid housing transactions and fewer newly built apartments for people to move in to, according to the statistics agency. Last year's high base effect also contributed to the on-year fall in mobility.

The population mobility rate -- the number of those relocating per 100 people -- reached 12.4 percent in October, down 1.5 percentage points from a year earlier.

The government has unleashed a series of comprehensive measures to curb rising home prices, including tax hikes and loan regulations. But the measures have largely resulted in only a short-term letup of housing prices.

South Korea's housing prices rose 0.88 percent in October from the previous month, slowing from a 0.92 percent on-month gain in September, according to data by the Korea Real Estate Board. (Yonhap)