Archives for May 2010
May 12th, 2010
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain's Socialist prime minister, and Mariano Rajoy, the Popular party opposition leader, yesterday agreed to hasten the restructuring of the country's troubled savings banks. Their move came amid dire warnings from economists about a possible financial collapse and further contagion from the Greek sovereign debt crisis. In their ...
Continue reading Spain's Party Leaders Agree on Bank Restructuring
May 11th, 2010
As a mortgage broker, the question we are asked most often is whether the banks are relaxing their lending criteria. We have yet to see any banks increasing their LTVs, but there are signs that certain banks are looking to increase their overall lending. We have noticed that larger loans ...
Continue reading May Mortgage News
May 11th, 2010
This week we read that Spain is finally out of recession (technically speaking). OK, the Spanish economy growing by 0.1% over the past three months can't be described as robust - but it's a lot better than the shrinkage the country has endured during the previous 18 months. Also this ...
Continue reading Spanish Property Just Got Cheaper
May 11th, 2010
Spain successfully auctioned benchmark five-year bonds on Thursday, but paid a premium for doing so as investors continued to eye the sovereign debt of countries on the periphery of the eurozone with caution. The country’s treasury sold €2.35bn of the 2015 issue, within its target of between €2bn-€3bn. However, the yield ...
Continue reading Strong Demand for Spain’s 5-year Bond Auction
May 10th, 2010
The Spanish daily ‘Diario Información’ reports that the Regional government of Valencia – the Generalitat – is putting the finishing touches to plans to certify the quality and legality of holiday homes in the region. But I can’t see it doing much good whilst “land grab” laws are still in ...
Continue reading Valencian Plan to Certify Holiday Homes an Empty Gesture?
May 7th, 2010
It is “absolute madness” to think Spain will need the kind of aid package debt-laden Greece is receiving from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Tuesday. The premier spoke at a press conference in Brussels after the Spanish stock market ...
Continue reading Spanish PM Dismisses IMF Aid Rumours
May 6th, 2010
The mood in Brussels has curdled. Last week, Eurocrats were revelling in the rise of Nick Clegg; this week, they are despondent because of Greece. The numbers just keep shooting up. Five days ago, I marvelled that a bail-out originally estimated at €25 billion should now be costing €45 billion. Today, ...
Continue reading Tough Choice for EU in Face of Greek Crisis
May 5th, 2010
The EU and IMF bailout for debt-ridden Greece will have a positive effect on Spain as it will lower the cost of its debt and calm the markets, Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado said on Monday. European governments endorsed on Sunday an unprecedented 110-billion-euro (160-billion-dollar) bailout to save Greece from bankruptcy ...
Continue reading Bailout May Help Calm Markets, Says Spain FM
May 4th, 2010
It looks like I might be on my own with the relative optimism I expressed last week about the Spanish property market. Regarding S&P downgrading Spain's credit rating, Manuel Grimaud commented: The best thing that can happen is for everyone to admit the mistake and Greece goes back to the Drakma and ...
Continue reading Spanish Debt & the Euro
May 4th, 2010
The Spanish government insists that Standard & Poor’s (S&P) had underestimated Spain’s growth prospects a day after the ratings agency downgraded the country’s credit standing. S&P forecast average Spanish annual growth of just 0.7% from 2010 to 2016, which according to economy secretary Jose Manuel Campa is “clearly below estimates made ...
Continue reading Spain: S&P Underestimated Growth Prospects
May 3rd, 2010
Spain's Santander, the largest bank in the euro zone, reported forecast-beating first-quarter profits on Thursday with strong deposit growth in Spain, although Brazil lending growth disappointed. Shares rose more than 4 percent, retracing lost ground after they were pushed to a near-three-month low in Wednesday's stock market rout following a downgrade ...
Continue reading Spain's Santander Bank Q1 Profits Beat Forecast
May 1st, 2010
Not that long ago, European economists used to mock their American counterparts for having questioned the wisdom of Europe’s march to monetary union. “On the whole,” declared an article published just this past January, “the euro has, thus far, gone much better than many U.S. economists had predicted.” Oops. The article ...
Continue reading The Euro Trap
