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Immediate Market Impact of New Restrictions One week after the Lee Jae-myung administration implemented its 600 million won cap on housing mortgage loans to stabilize Seoul property prices, the real estate market is experiencing significant disruption. With purchase cancellations and contract withdrawals surging, experts are noting both positive stabilization effects and concerning market contraction. The June 27 real estate measures, centered on the 600 million won mortgage cap, represent ultra-strong regulations that limit total loan amounts regardless of income or property value. This policy targets the top 10% of borrowers and is central to the government's plan to reduce annual household debt growth by 25% from the projected 50 trillion won increase. Given that Seoul's average apartment price stands at 1.4 billion won, the 600 million won restriction effectively limits market participation to buyers with substantial personal capital. Investors...

South Korean financial authorities implemented Phase 3 of the stress Debt Service Ratio (DSR) regulation on July 1, marking another significant tightening of mortgage lending standards as the government intensifies efforts to control household debt growth. The new measures are expected to further reduce borrowing capacity for homebuyers and potentially cool the overheated real estate market. Understanding Stress DSR Phase 3 The core feature of Phase 3 involves applying more stringent interest rate stress scenarios when evaluating borrowers' repayment capacity. Unlike Phase 2, which used current interest rates as the baseline, Phase 3 requires lenders to assess borrowers' ability to service debt assuming interest rates rise by 3 percentage points from current levels. For example, if current mortgage rates stand at 4%, lenders must now verify that borrowers can manage payments if rates reach 7%. This forward-looking approach aims to prevent payment difficulties should i...