Archives for December 2009
December 31st, 2009
Spanish savings banks have begun selling off the large property portfolios they acquired as collateral from loan defaults, in an effort to improve solvency ratios, a move that risks further falls in property values that could impair the value of their asset books. In Spain, the global financial crisis that erupted ...
Continue reading Spanish Banks Saddled With Property Debt
December 30th, 2009
Unless it turns out to be a false dawn, the housing markets in the UK and the US may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Can the same be said for Spain? Spanish housing market experts can’t agree on the answer, according to an article online at ...
Continue reading Experts Disagree Over Spanish Property Market
December 29th, 2009
Spanish-based blogger Mathew Bennett and Edward Hugh have started doing podcasts. The first covers the Spanish economy and how events elsewhere in Europe are affecting it. Access the podcast (approx 40 minutes duration) Among the points covered are: How does what’s happened in Dubai affect the economic situation in Greece, Spain and the ...
Continue reading Podcast: Spanish Economy
December 28th, 2009
The latest services PMI data suggests that the Spanish economy remains on a downward trajectory. The fact that variables such as activity, new orders and employment all fell at sharper rates during November is real cause for concern, with the prospects for 2010 becoming increasingly gloomy According to Spanish Prime Minister ...
Continue reading Standard & Poor's Worry About Spanish Finances
December 24th, 2009
One of the conundrums facing the Spanish property market is when Spanish property will again become financially appealing to British buyers - given the collapse of Sterling against the Euro which has affected both potential buyers and existing owners of Spanish property. Obviously, the current strength of the Euro against Sterling ...
Continue reading Spanish Property: Wavering Appeal to British Buyers
December 23rd, 2009
Sterling performs well on most fronts, helped by better employment data. Ratings and write-offs hamper the euro. Sterling spent the first half of the week advancing the two cents from €1.1050 to €1.1250 and the second half banging its head on technical resistance at €1.13. It opened in London this morning ...
Continue reading Sterling: A Quiet Fortnight In Prospect
December 22nd, 2009
I really wish I could close 2009 on a brighter note regarding Spanish property - but no amount of positive thinking can make the current situation look bright. Spanish Banks Prefer 'No Sale' Above Paper Loss gives us a first-hand account of why repossessed properties via Spanish banks are almost always ...
Continue reading Optimism for Spanish Property in 2010?
December 22nd, 2009
A compelling tale of how Spanish banks refuse to acknowledge the true value of the repossessed properties on their books in an attempt to maintain the paper value of their business. It is always reassuring for a writer when first hand experience meets gut instinct and ‘rumour’. This was recently the ...
Continue reading Spanish Banks Prefer 'No Sale' Above Paper Loss
December 21st, 2009
Recently an influential annual report was published by Acuna & Asociados who are highly regarded Madrid real estate analysts. Their report makes depressing reading given that they do not think the Spanish property market will recover for several years. Indeed, at current rates of demand (around 200,000 properties per year) it ...
Continue reading Spanish Property: What Now?
December 18th, 2009
Residential property in Spain is still 27% over-valued, despite the property market crash, claims a new report from Aguirre Newman, a real estate consultancy. A big part of the problem is Spain’s glut of unsold homes, argues the report. Aguirre Newman estimate there are 1.5 million homes on the market today, ...
Continue reading Spanish Property Still Overpriced
December 17th, 2009
The economist Arthur Okun coined the term “misery index” in the 1960s. It was the sum of the unemployment rate and inflation at any given time. Today, Spain is at the top of it. Pairing these two indicators made sense not only because both are economic phenomena that hurt ...
Continue reading Spain Tops Misery Index
December 16th, 2009
House prices in Spain haven’t yet fallen far enough, says Spaniard Luis Garicano, Professor of Economics and Strategy at the London School of Economics (LSE), in an interview with the daily paper Público. As a result, it’s too early to say the property bubble is over. Here are a selection of ...
Continue reading Spanish Property Prices: Further to Fall
December 16th, 2009
Investors were evidently not surprised that the chancellor's pre-budget statement did not address the budget problem. Greece's fiscal position creates potential strains for the euro. A range of less than a cent and a half kept sterling fairly close to €1.1050 throughout the week. It opened at that level in London ...
Continue reading Sterling Gets Off Lightly
December 15th, 2009
If you bank in Spain, your bank is probably ripping you off regarding bank charges for transfers. This week, we transferred some money between a Euro bank account in Spain to another Euro bank account in the UK and our bank charged us €63 Euros for the privilege of ...
Continue reading Spanish Banks Flout EC Regulations
December 15th, 2009
In recent months some banks and developers have been trumpeting discounts of between 25% and 50% on much of their stock, in some cases more. But according to official statistics property prices in Spain are only down 15% from their 2007 peak. Everyone knows the official figures are a bit dodgy, ...
Continue reading Spanish Property Prices Walking the Talk?
