SEOUL – South Korean banks’ household lending marked the first fall in seven months in December due to the lower housing transactions and the higher lending rate, central bank data showed Thursday.

Household loan, extended by banks, came in at 1,060.7 trillion won (892.3 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of December, down 0.2 trillion won from a month earlier, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It was the first reduction in seven months as demand weakened for home transactions at the end of the year amid the higher borrowing cost.

The BOK raised its key rate from a record low of 0.50 percent to 0.75 percent in August, before lifting it further to 1.00 percent in November.

Mortgage loan to households grew 2 trillion won in December, but it was the lowest growth in almost four years since February 2018.

Credit loan to households declined 2.2 trillion won last month. For the whole year of 2021, banks’ lending to households went up 71.8 trillion won. It was the third-highest yearly expansion, but it was down from the record-high increase of 100.6 trillion won in 2020. (1 U.S. dollar equals 1,187.98 won).