Regional mortgage loans will continue to be subject to the current phase 2 stress total debt service ratio (DSR) through the first half of next year.

The Financial Services Commission decided at a joint interagency household debt inspection meeting on Wednesday to apply the phase 2 stress total debt service ratio (DSR) to regional mortgage loans through the first half of next year, as is currently the case.

Phase 3 stress DSR took effect in July, and regional mortgage loans were granted a six-month deferral. The commission extended that deferral further to the end of June next year.

The FSC explained the decision by citing the impact on household debt as well as conditions in regional real estate and the construction market.

As a result, regional mortgage loans will continue to be subject to a lower level of the stress rate, the basic application ratio and the application ratio by loan type than under phase 3 stress DSR. The final applied rate is determined by multiplying these three items, so phase 2 results in a lower loan rate than phase 3.

The meeting also decided to improve how home prices are calculated during screening for jeonse loan guarantees.

At present, homes without a reliable market price have their value uniformly set at 140 percent of the official assessed price. Under the change, if the borrower wants, an appraised value from within the past six months will be 인정 as the home price.

The measure aims to ease inconvenience in jeonse loan guarantees caused by a large gap between actual home prices and official assessed prices for multi-family homes and similar properties. It will take effect from Jan. 2 next year after revisions to internal rules at the Korea Housing Finance Corp.