SEOUL, April 30 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's unsold homes rose for the fourth consecutive month, fueling worry about the sluggish real estate market, government data showed Tuesday.

The number of unsold homes nationwide inched up 0.1 percent from a month earlier to 64,964 at the end of March, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The number rebounded in December last year as builders struggling with credit crunch began to bring new homes into the market despite low housing prices.

The number of unsold homes in the capital Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan area, in which about half of the country's population resides, added 0.2 percent from a month earlier to 11,977 at the end of March.

The number in other areas edged up 0.1 percent to 52,987 in the cited month.

The number of home transactions stood at 52,816 in March, up 21.4 percent from the previous month.

For the first three months of this year, the number of housing permits was 74,558, down 22.8 percent compared to the same period of last year.

The number of housing starts dived 20.6 percent to 45,359 in the three-month period across the country. Enditem

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