(KPL/Yonhap) The government will supply 236,000 homes below market prices by 2029 and promote the reconstruction of old homes in urban areas in an effort to ensure housing stability and curb excessive housing price hikes, the finance ministry said Thursday.

The plans came as housing prices, particularly apartment prices, have been rising at a fast clip in Seoul and surrounding areas recently, and household debts have grown to a record level.

"The government will provide 236,000 homes at prices far lower than market prices in newly built new towns or other areas having desirable living conditions by 2029," Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok said during a meeting of real estate-related ministers in Seoul.

"By lifting green-belt restrictions in capital areas, the government will also additionally supply lots for building over 20,000 homes," Choi said.

The government will also come up with measures to facilitate the reconstruction of homes and urban redevelopment projects.

It will extend the planned supply of public homes from 120,000 to at least 130,000 homes and offer tax incentives for those who buy non-apartment homes.

"The real estate market is not overheated on the whole, but housing prices are rising in Seoul and surrounding areas. The government takes the current situation seriously and is enhancing the monitoring," Choi said.

The government will toughen the crackdown on real estate speculation and levy penalties for tax evasion, and a vice ministerial-level task force meeting on housing will be held on a weekly basis.

"In case the real estate market becomes overheated despite such measures, the government will come up with special measures," Choi said, adding that the government will announce an additional set of measures in August to boost the housing supply.

In response to rising household debts, the government will gradually tighten lending regulations by implementing the stressed debt service ratio (DSR) rules and other measures, the minister said.

In June alone, household loans extended by the country's top five commercial lenders surged more than 5.3 trillion won, the sharpest jump in nearly three years.

The total household loans came to 708.5 trillion won as of end-June, up more than 2 percent from the end of 2023.

"Stable housing is a key policy task for the people, and the government will make all-out efforts to stabilize the market," he added.

KPL