S.Korea's home prices rise for 18 months

Housing prices in South Korea kept rising for 18 months in a row as people purchased home amid higher costs for housing rent, an industry data showed Wednesday.

Nationwide apartment prices gained 0.27 percent in February from a month earlier after increasing 0.15 percent in the prior month, according to data by KB Kookmin Bank, a local lender.

The country's home prices kept an upward trend for the 18th consecutive month. The apartment prices increased 3.59 percent in the past 18 months.

The continued increase came as people chose to buy homes instead of rent, of which costs kept growing.

Nationwide "Jeonse" prices for apartment added 0.38 percent in February from a month earlier, higher than a 0.27 percent rise in January.

Jeonse is the country's unique type of housing lease, where a tenant pays a certain lump sum of deposit instead of paying monthly home rent. A landlord can be paid monthly rent by putting the deposit in bank accounts.

Amid lower interest rates, landlords are getting in favor of monthly home rents instead of Jeonse. Housing prices rose as people chose to buy homes amid higher costs for home lease.

The Bank of Korea (BOK) cut its benchmark interest rate in August and October last year to a record low of 2 percent. Endi