Archives for March 2010
March 18th, 2010
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Monday downgraded its risk assessment level for Spain's banking sector, warning of "high credit losses" during the country's recession. "We believe that Spanish financial institutions are likely to operate in a difficult economic environment over a prolonged period," it said in a statement. "Spain's financial system ...
Continue reading S&P Downgrades Spain's Banking Sector
March 17th, 2010
The Spanish property market is in too much of a mess for a real BMV market to exist, according to agents specialising in distressed property in the country. Struggling developers, desperate homeowners and banks stocked with repossessions are all setting their prices according to how badly they want to sell, ...
Continue reading The Myth of BMV Spanish Property
March 16th, 2010
Sterling proved to be slightly less fireproof than it had been the previous week, losing the half- cent between €1.11 and €1.1050. The low came at €1.0950 on Wednesday and sterling was staring at that same level as things got under way in London this morning. In a dull week for ...
Continue reading Sterling Rides Most of the Blows
March 16th, 2010
In a bumper news week, there's good and bad news for Spain. Let's get the bad news out of the way first - and end on a high. Remember my soapbox rant last week about how public sector striking will only add to Spain's woes? Well, the public won, ...
Continue reading Spanish Property: And Now for the Good News
March 16th, 2010
The bust is dead, the Spanish property market’s recovery has begun! That’s how some leading daily papers like El Pais are interpreting the latest figures from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) showing the market grew ever so slightly in January. I wouldn’t try to claim a vigorous recovery is underway, ...
Continue reading Spanish Property Recovery Begins
March 15th, 2010
Investors should avoid Spain’s bonds as the euro region’s highest levels of joblessness stifle the country’s ability to cut its budget deficit, according to Invesco Ltd. and Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit. Spanish debt isn’t yielding enough to compensate investors for buying the bonds of a country with the ...
Continue reading Investors Urged to Avoid Spanish Bonds
March 15th, 2010
The planned reform to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67 has been abandoned by the Government after it was rejected by the public The raising of the retirement age from 65 to 67 will not take place under this legislature, due to the negative repercussions it produced among the ...
Continue reading Government Bows to Public Pressure on Retirement Age
March 15th, 2010
Special Spanish tax breaks mean that it’s not just the football stars such as Ronaldo and Kaká who pay far less taxes. All foreigners who work for Spanish companies can also apply. David Beckham has the looks, the talent and – perhaps most importantly – the bank balance to make many ...
Continue reading Spanish Tax Breaks Benefit Expats
March 12th, 2010
A Foreign Office minister warned Spain on Sunday that knocking down British expatriates’ houses was hurting its economy. Chris Bryant, Minister for Europe, said that the country was undermining efforts to create a recovery in its beleaguered housing market. He was speaking yesterday during a visit to south-eastern Spain to meet British ...
Continue reading Bulldozing Expat Homes is Hurting Spanish Economy
March 11th, 2010
Pure investors from the UK have disappeared from a holiday home market now dominated by cash-rich lifestyle buyers, according to new research from Savills. The report from Savills International Research and holiday lettings company HomeAway.co.uk, revealed how far the overseas property market in the UK had fallen over the last year. ...
Continue reading Spain Sees Return of International Lifestyle Buyer
March 10th, 2010
Positive economic signs from the UK economy allow a near-miraculous recovery for sterling after a sharp fall. Investors are more relaxed about the Greek budget problems. Sterling fell sharply last Monday, losing nearly two cents before lunch. The remainder of the week was devoted to the slow and tedious process of ...
Continue reading Lucky Escape for Sterling
March 10th, 2010
TINSA have released their report for February 2010 - you can download it here. There's pretty much the same story this month as last monthThe general trend of the TINSA house price index is still declining .. Although the rate of decline is still slowing down .. In this case, no news is ...
Continue reading TINSA: More of the Same
March 10th, 2010
Spanish Banks are slowly relaxing their lending criteria with one or two offering more attractive deals and higher LTV’s. However, banks are still being cautious when it comes to assessing a client’s affordability. Most banks use a debt / income ratio of either 35% or 40%, although we work with ...
Continue reading Spanish Mortgage News
March 9th, 2010
German magazine Bild (equivalent to The Sun in the UK) has ruffled Greek diplomatic feathers this week. In an open letter to the Greek PM during his trip to Germany, Bild pointed out some of the differences between the two countries: "Here, people work until they are 67 and there ...
Continue reading We're Past the Bottom of the Spanish Property Market
March 9th, 2010
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Spain last night in the biggest test of the country’s Socialist Government, which is under pressure. With a general strike threatened in the summer, the two biggest Spanish unions staged protests in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Alicante. The Union General de Trabajadores ...
Continue reading Protests Against Spain's Pension Reforms
