Spanish Mortgage Approval Rates hit Seven-Year High

Mortgages are on the up and banks start to lend more.

Spanish Mortgage Approval Rates hit Seven-Year High

Some 26,583 mortgages were approved in Spain during August, making it the highest monthly figure since 2010, not to mention a massive increase of 29.1% compared to the same month last year. 

The continued upward trajectory of Spanish real estate has been made clear by a range of data released over the year. Whether it’s the number of transactions, or prices, or regional growth and overall outlook, the Spanish real estate market is in good health and only growing.

This recent data, which comes from statistics released by the Spanish central statistics unit, is perhaps the most accurate reflection of how things are right now. The numbers tell us that the peak of summer is when the most homes are bought, and the economic data shows that more and more Spaniards feel financially secure enough to begin climbing the property ladder.

The figure is naturally topped up by buyers from Britain, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, and other countries. This is shown by the fact that Andalucía, home of the illustrious Costa del Sol, saw the highest annual increase in August mortgage approvals. 50.2% more mortgages were approved in Andalucía compared to August of last year.

The average mortgage amount is also increasing, albeit not as sharply as mortgage approvals. The average mortgage amount has increased a minor 0.7% to €111,488, which is still encouraging despite being lower than the average increase in property prices. It shows that banks are once again feeling confident enough to lend money.

When taken as year-to-date statistics, the first eight months of 2017 saw over 210,000 mortgages approved, which is an increase of 12.85% over the same period of 2016. When looked at in terms of the past 12 months, the increase becomes 12.1% with 306,000 mortgages approved in Spain between August 2016 and August 2017.

Catalonia to Push for Secession Without Approval from Madrid

Catalonia to Push for Secession Without Approval from Madrid

Catalonia have been pushing for independence

for a long time

Many Catalans have been eager to get their independence but it looks like they’ve been held back at every turn, especially from a political standpoint.

The government of Catalonia has said that they will continue their attempts to break away from Spain even if they can’t secure the approval of the Spanish government.

The debates are becoming as heated as ever as is evidenced by Catalonia defying the Spanish constitutional court by talking about their own sovereignty in this manner. The parliament of Catalan put together a resolution to become an independent state nine months ago but their requests were never answered by those in Madrid.

Raül Romeva, the Catalonian minster of foreign affairs, has said that the Spanish state has left Catalonians feeling like they don’t have an alternative anymore. Their goal was to try and do what Scotland did when they sought independence; they wished to negotiate with the Spanish government and hold a democratic referendum. They are trying to talk to Madrid but they hear nothing in response.

Madrid would like to avoid seeing Spain break up and are even more apprehsensive following the recent Brexit decision and the idea that Scotland will once again call for a referendum for independence from the UK; a referendum that may very well pass this time.

Romeva has almost given Madrid an ultimatum, saying that the Spanish national government can continue to deny reality and believe that they can use their courts and legal processes to stop it, or they can accept reality and prepare for the inevitable Catalan independence.

A recent poll suggests that many Catalonian voters support the idea of an independent Catalonia and the current incumbent Catalonian government has already drawn up plans to come up with workable departments for collecting taxes, social security apparatus and a foreign affairs department ready for when they gain independence and need such things.

Romera believes that the independence referendum will be called within a year and believes that Madrid must accept what the Catalonian people want.

The stance of Madrid is really quite simple to understand; as Catalonia is not currently a nation any referendum they hold will not be legally binding in a Spanish or EU court. This is an impasse that Catalonia is determined to get past.

Romeva said that Catalonia would obviously be an ally ofSpain because of markets and infrastructure and other cultural and linguistic reasons. He also believes that Europe wouldn’t want to lose the socially and economically dynamic reality. As such any claim that an independent Catalonia would have no place in the EU is false.

Spanish Property Up with Mortgage Approvals

Spanish Property Up with Mortgage Approvals

The property market is continuing its recovery

Spain has a number of appealing factors, such as having great bargains, beauty, not to mention the sheer charm of the country.

This appeal is no doubt a major factor in the recovery of the Spanish property market as prices, sales, and mortgage approvals are all on the up.

Two sets of data were released recently that would seem to confirm that the Spanish property market truly is looking much healthier these days.

The first came from the financial advice firm Arcano. They analysed the property prices for all 17 regions for Spain and found house prices have risen by an average of 6.9% when compared to last year.

The prices were up in every region. There were also 10% more transactions than in 2015. Arcano believe that the positive changes were brought about because the Spanish economy is recovering – something itself fuelled by the rise in domestic demand – as well as heightened interest from foreign buyers in Britain, Germany and France.

Arcano also found that Spain’s supply of new and completed homes was running out and that there was a rise in planning applications. Only 46,000 homes were built during 2015 but it looks like more could be built in 2016.

The numbers from Arcano and the trends they suggest were backed up by the second set of data from the National Statistics Institute (NSI). Their data showed that mortgage approvals in March were up 14.5% when compared to March, 2015.

Overall there were 22,983 mortgages approved in March with the average mortgage also increasing by 4.8% and increasing to €107,861. This was further evidence, if any was needed, that there is more confidence in the Costa del sol real estate sector with rising house prices and Spanish banks being less restrictive with their lending

Mortgage Approval in Spain sees record rise in 2015

Mortgage Approval in Spain sees record rise in 2015

Spain witnessed the largest year on year increase in the number of mortgage approvals in 2015, as the rise was 19.8%, the steepest ever since they started to keep a record from 2003 which is great news for investors wanting to buy property in the Costa del Sol and Spain.

As per the statistics revealed by INE (National Statistical Institute), it is a clear indicator that the economy of Spain is back in track ever since the decade long slump after real estate market crashed in 2008.

Record number of mortgages approved in Spain in 2015

Ever since the global recession in 2008, people in Spain have continued to remain unemployed, started working for lower pays and also lost their financial security due to the global turmoil. However, due to the market scenario improving since 2014, the economy of Spain has been improving and has seen a growth rate of 3.2% in 2015, making Spain one of the best performing economies among the EU countries.

Following the recession, property prices saw a sudden cut of 40% on an average. It has only been improving since then and also, people now have job security. Banks have started to offload the properties they forcefully had to buy during the recession. All these statistics prove that the economy of Spain has been improving steadily.

Data released by INE also revealed that the total capital all over Spain borrowed as mortgages stood at €25.9 billion, which is a 24.1% increase compared to the previous year.

However, the mortgages borrowed were highest in 2006 just before the crash, which stood at a whopping €188.3 billion. Going forward, the growth is only bound to increase and home loans have registered an increased growth continuously from the past 19 months and investment properties are being bought in Spain.