MADRID – The number of housing starts in 2008 fell 41.5 percent compared to 2007, while 43.5 percent fewer mortgages were created in January than in the same month the year before, figures that confirm the depth of the real estate crisis in Spain.
The fall in the number of housing starts, which totaled 360,044 last year, was the result of the adjustment in production of new homes to the fact that sales had fallen by almost one-third.
Meanwhile, mortgages created on homes in January fell to 53,017, and the amount of money loaned in those transactions totaled 6.47 billion euros ($8.8 billion), which is a year-to-year decline of 51.7 percent.
According to the National Statistics Institute, the average value of mortgages written on homes fell for the 12th consecutive month, reaching 122,091 euros ($166,000) in January, 14.5 percent below the average value in January 2008.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
SPAIN: REAL ESTATE CRISIS, 70% FIRMS CLOSED FROM 2006
MADRID - Real estate brokerage firms have truly been decimated by the collapse in the construction and real estate buying sectors. Only 25,000 real estate companies have survived the crisis of the 80,000 that were registered in the summer of 2006 when the construction boom was in full swing, amounting to a 70% decrease in real estate brokerage firms, with 180,000 lost jobs according to sector estimates reported by La Vanguardia newspaper.
The haemorrhaging occurring in the sector is far from over since, according to the president of the college of real estate agents of Barcelona, Joan Olle', real estate agencies will continue to close for all 2009, and less than 20,000 will survive at the end of the year. However ''not all bad things are necessarily harmful,'' underlined Olle', who regards the real estate crisis as a phenomenon that ''has allowed purging of the sector that was teeming with makeshift businesses, which were often only equipped with a mobile phone and were not professional''.
The haemorrhaging occurring in the sector is far from over since, according to the president of the college of real estate agents of Barcelona, Joan Olle', real estate agencies will continue to close for all 2009, and less than 20,000 will survive at the end of the year. However ''not all bad things are necessarily harmful,'' underlined Olle', who regards the real estate crisis as a phenomenon that ''has allowed purging of the sector that was teeming with makeshift businesses, which were often only equipped with a mobile phone and were not professional''.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Spanish banks create real estate outlet to offload 'toxic' property assets
Around half of Spain's savings banks are joining together to create an 'estate agent' to sell defaulted property and developments worth €3 billion.
A new company, Ahorro Corporación Soluciones Inmobiliarias (ASCI), will be managed by Ahorro Corporación, a financial services firm jointly owned by the savings banks.
It aims to become the biggest estate agents in Spain using 17,000 local bank branches offering property for sale and to rent.
It is hoped that it will help to offload a huge number of properties that are now owned by the banks and discounts of up to 25% are expected.
So far 23 of Spain's 42 savings banks have joined. Caja Madrid and La Caixa, Spain's two largest savings banks, are not yet part of the scheme but they are looking at the situation closely.
A new company, Ahorro Corporación Soluciones Inmobiliarias (ASCI), will be managed by Ahorro Corporación, a financial services firm jointly owned by the savings banks.
It aims to become the biggest estate agents in Spain using 17,000 local bank branches offering property for sale and to rent.
It is hoped that it will help to offload a huge number of properties that are now owned by the banks and discounts of up to 25% are expected.
So far 23 of Spain's 42 savings banks have joined. Caja Madrid and La Caixa, Spain's two largest savings banks, are not yet part of the scheme but they are looking at the situation closely.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Santander starts paying redemptions from giant real estate fund
On Monday Santander Real Estate made the first payments to those investors in the giant Banif Inmobiliario real estate fund who requested redemptions before 27 February, Cinco Días reports.
The redemptions paid on Monday totalled €160 million. The total assets of the fund are €3.15 billion after suffering two devaluations of assets in the last four months.
As Citywire reported two weeks ago, requested redemptions from real estate funds in Spain add up to approximately half of the sector's total assets under management that peaked last year at €9 billion.
The redemptions paid on Monday totalled €160 million. The total assets of the fund are €3.15 billion after suffering two devaluations of assets in the last four months.
As Citywire reported two weeks ago, requested redemptions from real estate funds in Spain add up to approximately half of the sector's total assets under management that peaked last year at €9 billion.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
‘Best Real Estate Agency Spain’
After 25 years at the forefront of the Spanish property market, Mercers see their recent award win at the CNBC-sponsored European Property Awards as not only an endorsement of their business but also as a real pat on the back for a quarter of a century of hard work. And, it would seem that trend-setting rather than trend-following has been the secret to Mercers success and longevity in what is now quite a tricky Spanish property market.
Chris Mercer, Director of the Jerez and Mazarron based property specialists, comments, “We have always looked at our competitors methods and tried to do almost the opposite. Mercers has consistently invested heavily in its aftersales service which is far more important than people realise and from a property point of view I look for new areas rather than following the ‘pack’ to the obvious Costas.”
Chris Mercer, Director of the Jerez and Mazarron based property specialists, comments, “We have always looked at our competitors methods and tried to do almost the opposite. Mercers has consistently invested heavily in its aftersales service which is far more important than people realise and from a property point of view I look for new areas rather than following the ‘pack’ to the obvious Costas.”
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Spain: 13 arrested in real estate corruption case
MADRID - Spanish police arrested the mayor of a small town and 12 other people in a real estate fraud case involving home sales to foreigners.
The Interior Ministry says the Socialist mayor of Alcaucin in southern Malaga province allegedly accepted bribes to allow construction of homes in nonresidential areas.
The ministry said in a statement that those arrested Friday included real estate promoters, members of the mayor's family and two architects.
Corruption has become a major issue before regional elections Sunday in the Basque region and Galicia in the northwest.
One probe has implicated members of the conservative opposition Popular Party. The opposition has in turn accused the government of putting pressure on the judiciary.
The Interior Ministry says the Socialist mayor of Alcaucin in southern Malaga province allegedly accepted bribes to allow construction of homes in nonresidential areas.
The ministry said in a statement that those arrested Friday included real estate promoters, members of the mayor's family and two architects.
Corruption has become a major issue before regional elections Sunday in the Basque region and Galicia in the northwest.
One probe has implicated members of the conservative opposition Popular Party. The opposition has in turn accused the government of putting pressure on the judiciary.
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