Archives for December 2009
December 14th, 2009
Of course, there is no denying that the Spanish property market is in deep trouble. Indeed, the problems caused by the Spanish property crash are, undeniably, central to the ‘crisis’ in Spain. Quite simply (as everyone now knows) far too many properties in Spain were built during the boom years. ...
Continue reading The Complexities of the Spanish Property Market
December 11th, 2009
Spain is among the countries targeted as EU finance ministers adopted new recommendations for 14 countries given firm deadlines to bring bloated public deficits back under tight control. Budget overspending and consequent national debt, already a severe problem for many countries before the financial crisis, are now turning into a critical ...
Continue reading EU Sets Deadlines for Deficit Countries
December 10th, 2009
The hockey-stick effect is still very much in evidence in TINSA's latest report on Spanish house prices. But wait, there's a catch. You can download the latest TINSa report (pdf format) on Spanish house prices by clicking on either of the graphs below. The first of TINSA's graphs makes for a ...
Continue reading TINSA: Spanish House Price Trends November 2009
December 10th, 2009
Guarded optimism from the Bank of England balances concern about UK government borrowing. The European Central seems to be looking ahead to taking interest rates higher. Sterling ratcheted higher, having dipped only briefly below last Monday's €1.0950 starting level. It peaked above €1.11 on Friday and opened in London this morning ...
Continue reading Investors In Two Minds About The Pound
December 9th, 2009
Economic figures released Thursday provided little evidence that the 16 countries that share the euro are enjoying a strong recovery from recession. Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, confirmed that the eurozone's economy grew by 0.4 percent in the July-September quarter from the previous three-month period - unrevised from its previous estimate ...
Continue reading Eurostat: Spanish Economy Still Shrinking
December 8th, 2009
News this week of new laws to help Spanish companies reduce employment costs may seem like a backward step for full employment, but it's a necessary one if Spain is ever again to be competitive in Europe.At last, Zapatero's government has conceded that they need to reform Spanish labour laws. I ...
Continue reading Full Employment is Key to Spanish Economy
December 8th, 2009
The proposed changes which may be modelled after the Germany scheme will include allowing firms to cut costs by reducing their hours instead of making them redundant. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero vowed Wednesday to reform to the nation's rigid labour market rules to fight a rising unemployment rate ...
Continue reading Spain to Reform Labour Laws
December 7th, 2009
Talking to residential investors in Europe these days, Spain is almost never mentioned as a target. Even groups with vulture funds say they’re not quite ready to dive into that market, despite prices down 20 to 40 percent, in many areas. It happened again last week. I was talking to Stuart ...
Continue reading Investors Still Wary of Spain
December 7th, 2009
Unfortunately, negotiating the purchase price of your intended property in Spain is not always simple. This is because the seller may have two sale ‘prices’ The declared price. This is the sale price that will be placed upon the Escritura (deeds) and that will be the price upon which you will ...
Continue reading Spanish Property: How to Negotiate the Price
December 4th, 2009
The European Central Bank is set to begin the delicate process of phasing out its financial crisis support on Thursday, backed by new staff forecasts which should show greater economic optimism. With markets still some way from normality, all 80 economists in the latest Reuters poll expect interest rates to be ...
Continue reading ECB Will Exit Cautiously
December 3rd, 2009
The tie-up of the two Catalan institutions, Caixa Penedes and Caixa Laietana, will create the country’s ninth-largest savings banks by assets. Plus, Unicaja and Cajasur of Andalusia are the latest two banks to merge in the midst of the nation’s worst recession. Two Spanish savings banks, Caixa Penedes and Caixa Laietana, ...
Continue reading Two Bank Mergers in Spain – Many More to Come
December 2nd, 2009
The upward revision to UK third quarter GDP was smaller than many investors had hoped. Dubai World's default was worrying for UK banks and businesses. The pound hovered around €1.11 until midweek, when it found itself heading lower. Support at €1.0950 was necessary on several occasions, including early this morning, and ...
Continue reading Moneycorp: Sterling Struggles with Skeletons but Survives
December 2nd, 2009
A Businessweek article referencing opinion from Standard & Poor's states that the economic rebound in Europe will be uneven due to the availability of financing. Spain will suffer more than most. Higher costs of capital and the unwinding of excessive leverage burden recovery prospects as Europe emerges from recession. The ...
Continue reading Spanish Recovery Slower than Most
December 1st, 2009
What with all the political manoeuvring this week, you would think there is a general election looming in Spain. In fact, the current Prime Minister called a general election as recently as March 2008 - while he was still in a position to win it. The fact that Mr Zapatero ...
Continue reading Sustainable Spanish Economy?
December 1st, 2009
Spain's government on Friday approved a sweeping reform package designed to reduce its recession-hit economy's reliance on the construction sector and usher in a more sustainable growth model. Spain's government on Friday approved a sweeping reform package designed to reduce its recession-hit economy's reliance on the construction sector and usher in ...
Continue reading Spanish Strategy for Sustainable Economic Growth
