Apartment complexes in Seoul is seen in this March 18 photo. Yonhap

The Seoul city government on Wednesday said it will temporarily adopt the "land transaction permission system" in four affluent districts of the capital to help stabilize the real estate market, less than five weeks after it lifted the same regulation in two of those districts.

The government has designated the Gangnam, Seocho, Songpa and Yongsan districts as areas subject to the permission system for six months from March 24 through Sept. 30, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a press release.

The permission system requires government permission for transactions of properties that exceed a certain size in the subjected areas.

Some 400,000 households living in the four districts' 2,200 apartment complexes will be affected by the system for the six months, the release said.

Wednesday's move follows recent hikes in home prices.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government had lifted part of the land transaction permission zones in some areas of the Gangnam and Songpa districts on Feb. 13.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon answers questions from reporters during a briefing on the government's housing market stabilization measures at a government complex building in central Seoul, March 19. Yonhap

The move quickly led to a surge in home prices, which in turn prompted a spike in household loans.

Home prices in Seoul jumped by the most in three months in February, while household loans extended by local banks added 3.3 trillion won (US$2.2 billion) from a month earlier in February, marking the first on-month increase in three months, according to earlier reports.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon apologized for the recent volatility in the housing market and said, "There should be a government intervention in case of market distortion caused by a monopoly or speculation."

The government will sternly respond to any abnormal trends in the property market, he added.

The land ministry, the Seoul city government and other related government organizations have decided to designate the three districts in southern Seoul and the Yongsan district in central Seoul as areas requiring government permission for home transactions, the release said.

If house prices continue to rise even after the designation, the government will consider extending the six-month period or designating additional areas that show sharp increases in home prices as land transaction permit zones, it said. (Yonhap)