New housing permits in South Korea spiked 16 percent from a year earlier in April, data showed Thursday, amid government efforts to prop up the local real estate market.

The number of new home permits issued came to 59,675 last month, up 8,330 from the same month last year, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

April marked the 16th consecutive month of an on-year increase in new home permits.

The sharp rise last month was driven by a robust gain in permits issued in provincial areas.

Rural areas saw their housing permits soar 45 percent on-year to 32,506 last month, while construction permits issued in the capital region, including Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, fell 5 percent to 27,169.

The number of actual groundbreakings, on the other hand, rose 15.2 percent on-year to 66,625 in April, reflecting a high demand for new homes here.

The apparent boom in the real estate market follows a series of government measures to revitalize the construction market and the entire economy.

Such steps included reduced regulations on the reconstruction of old homes, along with eased rules on debt-to-income and loan-to-value ratios to facilitate borrowing.

The country's central bank also has kept its policy rate frozen at a record low of 1.5 percent since June 2015, further boosting people's access to funds needed to buy or rent homes. (Yonhap)