Major South Korean insurers saw their mortgage loans grow at a fast clip over the past year on rising demand, industry data showed Tuesday.

Mortgage lending by top life insurer Samsung Life Insurance surged 17.2 percent on-year to 21.3 trillion won ($18.6 billion) at the end of March this year. In the first quarter of the year alone, its home-backed loans surged by more than 1 trillion won.

No. 2 industry player Hanwha Life Insurance saw its mortgage loans jump 17.3 percent on-year to 4.9 trillion won as of end-March.

Outstanding home-backed loans by other players, including Fubon Hyundai Life Insurance and Shinhan Life Insurance, also climbed more than 10 percent over the cited period.

In addition, non-life insurance companies reported big increases in their mortgage lending over the one-year period.

Industry leader Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance reported a 13.8 percent on-year increase in its mortgage loans to 10.8 trillion won, with mortgage lending by DB Insurance rising 10.7 percent to more than 1 trillion won.

At the end of March, life insurers' outstanding mortgage loans came to 32.5 trillion won, up 14.7 percent from a year earlier, with those by non-life insurance companies gaining 6.2 percent to 18.9 trillion won.

Industry watchers said insurance companies' home-backed loans have expanded over the last year thanks to brisk demand from homebuyers.

Meanwhile, five leading banks in South Korea saw their combined mortgage loans expand by some 9 trillion won in the January-March period, according to the sources. (Yonhap)