KakaoBank Mortgage Applications Spark 'Open Run' as Commercial Banks Tighten Regulations

An 'open run' phenomenon has reemerged as applicants rush to apply for mortgage loans at KakaoBank.

This trend is attributed to commercial banks tightening loan availability to manage their total household debt caps, which has driven demand toward internet-only banks that face relatively fewer regulations.

Lately, KakaoBank's mortgage applications have been closing early as the daily intake is completely exhausted during the morning hours.

Earlier this year, a similar 'open run' occurred due to a surge in mortgage applications at KakaoBank, but demand had appeared somewhat stable over the past few months with application deadlines extending into the afternoon.

However, the fervor for mortgage applications is heating up once again.

Users on online communities have been continuously posting verification screenshots showing that applications closed within seconds after new submissions opened at 6:00 AM.

KakaoBank operates a daily application limit for household loans, including mortgage loans.

The system restricts new applications once the daily intake volume is reached.

Industry insiders believe that stricter loan regulations by commercial banks have triggered a concentration of demand toward internet-only banks.

According to the Consumer Survey released by the Bank of Korea on June 28, the housing price expectation consumer sentiment index for this month rose to 127, up 7 points from the previous month.

This indicates that more consumers expect housing prices to rise a year from now, marking the highest level in 4 years and 10 months since September 2021, when the index stood at 128.

The mortgage loan balance of the five major banks at the end of last month stood at 617,941.1 billion won, an increase of 2,795.5 billion won from the previous month, marking an increase for the fourth consecutive month.

This was the largest increase since August of last year.

Consequently, banks have tightened their loan supplies even further. KB Kookmin Bank reduced its mortgage loan limit from 600 million won to 300 million won, while other banks also raised borrowing barriers by restricting mortgage credit insurance (MCI and MCG) subscriptions and raising interest rates.

While genuine homebuyers have no choice but to flock to internet-only banks, these online lenders also have limited capacity for loan supply.

A KakaoBank official stated, "Customer interest in mortgages remains high, but our capacity to supply new loans is not sufficient," adding, "We are operating loans within the scope of total volume management."

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Lee Da-in | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.