South Korea’s household credit climbed to a fresh all-time high in the third quarter, but its on-year growth rate slowed for the fifth straight quarter amid an anemic property market, the central bank said Thursday.

Household credit totaled 937.5 trillion won ($867.3 million) as of the end of September, up 13.6 trillion won from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. The third-quarter growth compared with a 12.8 trillion won gain tallied in the second quarter.

From a year earlier, household credit grew 5.6 percent last quarter, slowing from a 5.8 percent gain in the second quarter.

Household credit refers to credit purchases and loans for households extended by financial institutions, including commercial lenders and mutual savings banks.

The rise in household debt came despite the lackluster property market, raising concerns that the longstanding economic slowdown and a fall in housing prices may spark risks of mortgage delinquency.

Household lending by banks and non-bank depositary institutions totaled 648.5 trillion won as of end-September, up 2.7 trillion won from three months earlier. (Yonhap News)