fitch ratings
September 20th, 2007
Denmark and Britain have the most overvalued housing markets in Europe and are currently the most vulnerable to price falls, according to a new survey by credit-rating company Fitch Ratings. The agency looked at 16 developed nations and compared rises in house prices with past performance and current household incomes. ...
Continue reading Is Europe on a crash course?
September 5th, 2008
Fitch Ratings has downgraded six sets of Spanish mortgage securities issued by Banco Santander, heightening concerns that the damage from Spain’s property crash is spreading to the country’s strongest lenders. The loans were “sliced and diced” and packaged in an identical way to sub-prime mortgage bonds in the US, belying claims ...
Continue reading Concern Over Spanish Bank Securities
April 24th, 2009
Spain could be sliding towards harsh budget cuts like those forced on another former euro zone high-flyer Ireland. Concern about Ireland's deficit and exposure to bank losses pressured its government to slash spending and hike taxes this month to reassure investors of its long-term solvency. Although Spain has just launched a bank ...
Continue reading Ireland & Spain: Property Boom Cousins
October 19th, 2009
Fitch Ratings says in a report published today that the Spanish banking system has weathered the global financial crisis successfully to date with no need for capital support from the state. This is due to its retail banking focus, prudent regulation and limited exposure to structured products and complex instruments. However, ...
Continue reading Fitch: Major Spanish Banks Sound Despite Challenges
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
June 3rd, 2010
Spain aims to pass a long-awaited labour market reform before the end of June, with or without an agreement with unions and business leaders, Economy Minister Elena Salgado said on Monday. Negotiations on thrashing out a deal were held on Monday after the labour ministry said it would extend a deadline ...
Continue reading Spain Aim to Pass Labour Reforms Before Month End
June 7th, 2010
Wary investors pushed up Spain's borrowing costs on Wednesday as a debt downgrade from last week cast a shadow over the country's efforts to avoid a Greek-style debt crisis. Good news on the jobs market seemed to give markets little cheer. The spread — the difference in the interest rates between ...
Continue reading Spain Borrowing Costs Rise but Unemployment Down
June 18th, 2010
European policymakers sought to quash talk of a euro zone rescue for Spain on Tuesday as the country's borrowing costs rose further in a debt auction ahead of an EU summit to discuss steps to fix the currency bloc. A German government official said he did not think Spain, which was ...
Continue reading Spain Seeks to Calm Fears Over Bailout
July 6th, 2010
The Spanish property market correction will run into 2012, with prices down by 30% in total, say ratings agents Fitch. Spanish property prices haven’t fallen enough, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings. “Fitch believes that Spanish house prices remain over-valued relative to income thresholds and need to decline further to ...
Continue reading House Prices Forecast to Fall Further
January 20th, 2011
Spanish home sales decreased for a third month in November over concerns about domestic unemployment and the outlook for the nation’s economy. Home transactions fell 6.2 percent from a year earlier, after a 17.7 percent drop the previous month, the National Statistics Institute said today in an e-mailed statement from Madrid. ...
Continue reading Unemployment Woes Deter Spanish Home Buyers
