MADRID, April 29 (Reuters) - Spain suffered its worst economic contraction since the Second World War in early 2009 as the global crisis and a construction collapse sent unemployment soaring, Bank of Spain data showed on Wednesday.
Spanish gross domestic product fell 2.9 percent year on year in the first quarter and 1.8 percent on a quarterly basis as unemployment hit 17.4 percent, by far the highest rate in the European Union, the central bank said in its monthly bulletin.
The forecasts were in line with private sector estimates and economists said the first quarter could mark the worst moment of Spain's recession, which is expected to drag into next year.
"We've touched bottom, in the sense we've reached the worst rates of contraction," said Angel Laborda at Spain's FUNCAS, a consultancy run by savings banks.
Spain's economic problems spread from its troubled construction sector into service industries during the first quarter amid prolonged turmoil in global financial markets, the Bank of Spain said.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Spain Feb home sales fall 38 pct despite price drop
MADRID, April 21 (Reuters) - Spanish property owners were still struggling to sell homes in February, figures showed on Tuesday, even though price falls gathered pace according to official data and some estate agents said prices were plunging.
Sales fell 37.5 percent year on year to 34,669, the second-lowest number since the series began in January 2007 and the 12th straight month of declining sales, figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed.
Joaquin Garcia, who works in his father's small real estate firm in Benalmadena, a resort near Malaga, said the business was only selling a third of the properties it was shifting during Spain's property bubble that burst at the start of 2008.
Sales fell 37.5 percent year on year to 34,669, the second-lowest number since the series began in January 2007 and the 12th straight month of declining sales, figures from the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed.
Joaquin Garcia, who works in his father's small real estate firm in Benalmadena, a resort near Malaga, said the business was only selling a third of the properties it was shifting during Spain's property bubble that burst at the start of 2008.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Afirma rises from Spain’s real estate collapse
About two years ago, shares in a Spanish real estate developer called Astroc plunged 70 per cent in a week, marking what is today recognised as the end of Spain’s property boom.
Investors fled the Valencia-based company when it emerged its business model – based on buying, or taking options on, land slated for possible residential rezoning – was threatened by questionable accountancy, law changes, rising interest rates and softening demand for second homes.
The company’s market value had become wildly inflated in the run-up to the April 2007 crash, making the fall all the heavier. In spite of frantic buying to support the shares, Enrique Bañuelos, company founder and controller, saw most of his asset wealth wiped out in a matter of days.
Investors fled the Valencia-based company when it emerged its business model – based on buying, or taking options on, land slated for possible residential rezoning – was threatened by questionable accountancy, law changes, rising interest rates and softening demand for second homes.
The company’s market value had become wildly inflated in the run-up to the April 2007 crash, making the fall all the heavier. In spite of frantic buying to support the shares, Enrique Bañuelos, company founder and controller, saw most of his asset wealth wiped out in a matter of days.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Property investors wait for lower Spanish market
LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) - Property investors are nibbling at the discounted Spanish property market, but prices need to fall further to attract some of the biggest spenders, a panel of investors told a distressed real estate conference on Tuesday.
"We are still trying to invest in Spain," confirmed Simon Blaxland, chief executive of the Exmoor Group, speaking at IMN's European Distressed Real Estate Symposium in London.
"If we could get some good quality offices in Madrid, with sustainable rents at two-thirds of the peak, and buy at a 7.5 percent capital rate, we could hit our return targets, but prices are not down to those levels yet," he said.
"We are still trying to invest in Spain," confirmed Simon Blaxland, chief executive of the Exmoor Group, speaking at IMN's European Distressed Real Estate Symposium in London.
"If we could get some good quality offices in Madrid, with sustainable rents at two-thirds of the peak, and buy at a 7.5 percent capital rate, we could hit our return targets, but prices are not down to those levels yet," he said.
Friday, April 3, 2009
18TH-CENTURY HOUSE WITH VIEWS OF NORTH AFRICA IN GAUCÍN, SPAIN
This five-bedroom six-bath home in the mountainside village of Gaucín in southern Spain, about a half-hour drive from the Mediterranean, dates to the 18th century. Clad in white stucco, it was gutted in 2001 and renovated using old bricks, antique doors and other materials salvaged from demolished houses in the area.
Each of the three floors evokes a different culture and century. The bottom floor, originally an olive oil press, is now a sprawling space styled after a Moroccan den. The next floor, at street level, was designed to resemble an Edwardian house, with ornate wallpaper and period furniture. It has a formal entryway, dining room and library, as well as two bedrooms and two baths. The top floor, which houses the master suite, another bedroom and a living room, is decorated in a minimalist style.
There are full kitchens on every floor; the largest, on the bottom floor, has two antique marble sinks and exposed ceiling beams.
Each of the three floors evokes a different culture and century. The bottom floor, originally an olive oil press, is now a sprawling space styled after a Moroccan den. The next floor, at street level, was designed to resemble an Edwardian house, with ornate wallpaper and period furniture. It has a formal entryway, dining room and library, as well as two bedrooms and two baths. The top floor, which houses the master suite, another bedroom and a living room, is decorated in a minimalist style.
There are full kitchens on every floor; the largest, on the bottom floor, has two antique marble sinks and exposed ceiling beams.
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