From April, 'Apartment Balance Loans' Will Also Be Transferable

From September, Price Inquiry Available for 'Residential Officetels and Villas' Refinancing Service
From June, Jeonse Loan Refinancing Period Extended to 6 Months After Lease End
Financial Services Commission: "170,000 Loan Transfers Achieved in 300 Days of Refinancing"

The government will include apartment balance loans in the mortgage refinancing service starting in April and will launch a refinancing service for residential officetels and villas with real-time price inquiry capabilities from September.

Additionally, from June, the period during which jeonse loan refinancing is possible will be extended to up to six months before the end of the jeonse lease term, and the operating hours for credit loan refinancing services will be expanded.

On the 26th, Kim So-young, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, held a 'Meeting between Participating Institutions and Users of the Loan Refinancing Service' and announced these plans. During the meeting, users and participating institutions of the loan refinancing service discussed the achievements and future improvement plans after operating the service for 300 days since its launch on May 31 last year.

Based on the experience of operating the loan refinancing service so far, financial authorities plan to continuously improve the convenience of the service so that more citizens can use it more easily.

First, regarding the mortgage refinancing service, from April 1, apartment balance loans for which ownership registration is completed under the borrower's name and the existing lender's mortgage rights are established can also use the mortgage refinancing service.

Furthermore, from September, the government plans to expand the scope of the loan refinancing service to include loans secured by villas (multi-family and row houses) and residential officetels, for which real-time price inquiries such as KB Price and Korea Real Estate Board prices are available.

Currently, most officetel and villa secured loans are handled face-to-face by financial companies, so about 5 to 6 months of IT system development and non-face-to-face product development are needed to provide online loan refinancing services.

The jeonse loan refinancing service period will be extended. Currently, refinancing is only possible until half of the jeonse lease period has passed. However, from June, after consultations with guarantor institutions and other participants, the refinancing application period will be extended to up to six months before the end of the jeonse lease term.

Assuming a two-year jeonse contract period, refinancing was previously possible from three months after loan execution until 12 months had passed, but going forward, the refinancing period will be extended from three months after loan execution until 18 months have passed.

For credit loans, to allow more financial consumers to conveniently use the refinancing service during evening hours, the operating hours for credit loan refinancing will be extended from the current 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. starting in June. According to analysis by major loan comparison platforms, expanding the refinancing hours to 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. is expected to enable approximately 45% more users?compared to those accessing the platforms between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.?to use the refinancing service through loan comparison platforms.

Meanwhile, from May 31 last year to the 25th of this month, a total of 166,580 citizens have used the loan refinancing service, moving KRW 7.4331 trillion in loans to lower interest rates. For credit loans, 144,320 borrowers moved KRW 3.3851 trillion in loans, reducing the average interest rate by about 1.58 percentage points (P).

The mortgage refinancing service, launched on January 9, saw 16,909 people move KRW 3.1274 trillion in loans, with an average interest rate reduction of about 1.52 percentage points. The jeonse loan refinancing service, started on January 31, had 5,351 users move KRW 920.6 billion in loans, with an average interest rate decrease of about 1.37 percentage points.

Additionally, considering the achievements of the online one-stop refinancing loan infrastructure, the Financial Services Commission plans to provide exceptional incentives such as promotions and overseas study opportunities to policy officials. Lee Jin-soo and Oh Hwa-se, former heads of the Small and Medium Finance Division who were responsible for building the refinancing infrastructure, were promoted from Secretary to Deputy Director on the 26th, and Shin Jang-soo, current head of the Small and Medium Finance Division, will be given top priority in future promotions. Officer Park Jong-hyuk, a key staff member, will be offered an opportunity for overseas study.

Vice Chairman Kim evaluated, "The success of the loan refinancing service is not only due to the policy efforts of the financial authorities but also the joint efforts of participating institutions such as the financial sector to reduce the interest burden on citizens," and added, "We ask for the active cooperation of the financial sector to ensure that improvement tasks are carried out smoothly and that more citizens can be provided with convenient services."