Household loans by South Korean banks grew by the largest amount in four months in April as mortgage lending picked up under the government's efforts to revive the housing market, the central bank said Thursday. Outstanding household loans by local banks, including home-backed and credit loans, reached 483.4 trillion won (US$472.1 billion) as of end-April, up 2.8 trillion won from the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).