Yearly Archives: 2009

This weeks Spain “Paradise Lost” programme on ITV 1 was an overview of the market in Spain both now and in the preceeding years.

In May this year, the Bank of Spain and Spanish government passed a new rule that reduces the validity of valuation reports from 6 months down to 3 months. This change is a reflection on the volatility of values of properties in Spain and the Bank of Spain’s requirement to ensure that loans do not […]

UCI the mortgage-lending arm of Santander and BNP Paribas is one of the few providers still actively and aggressively providing Spanish mortgages. UCI only provides Spanish Mortgages via brokers and third parties so no mortgages no business which may explain why they are still very much in the market. Loan to values which were once […]

Latest rumours suggest that at least one bank in Spain has significant enough problems for the Bank of Spain to be required to step in.

Mortgages in Spain linked to purchase price After years of selling Spanish properties and advising clients to under declare purchase prices (to avoid the full buying taxes but without informing client of capital gains tax exposure at a later date) some Spanish estate agents have done the complete reverse and are now convincing buyers and sellers […]

In an effort to try and offload some of the property stock that many Spanish Banks now hold on their books due to developers going bust; a number of banks are looking at discounting heavily the properties and providing virtually no cash in deals to the right clients. Amongst the banks considering this are Sol […]

Unlike Spanish mortgage advice, which is unregulated and could be given to clients by someone with no experience or knowledge, the repossession process in Spain is highly regulated. The Spanish Repossession Process The repossession process in Spain is very different to that of the UK. The rules applied by the Bank of Spain on banks […]

The latest rumours coming out of Spain suggest Caxia Catalunya may be experiencing problems. Heavily involved in development funding Caxia Catalunya hope not to follow Caja Castilla La Mancha who have had the Bank of Spain step in to run and restructure it. Caja Castilla La Mancha like Caxia Catalunya was a large regional bank […]

Buying activity appears to be increasing, as property bargains become a real reality in Spain. Apartments previously marketed at knocking € 200k can now be picked up regularly for € 100k  making the dream of having a Spanish holiday home more achievable even in today’s troubled times. The 12 Month Euribor, which most banks use […]

Whilst the banks in Spain’s treasury and investment arms were not actively involved in the sub-prime market, they have not managed to stay completely without issues. Falling pound and high interest rates which many people are still tied into until their next annual review has meant the delinquency rate on their existing mortgage books has […]