Mortgage Approvals Increase 33% in Spain in Summer

The banks in Spain are slowly relaxing there rules and giving

mortgages again 

Mortgage Approvals Increase 33% in Spain in Summer

The latest data from the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) shows that mortgage approvals during July increased 32.9% compared to the same month in 2016. 

The data shows that some 24,863 home mortgages in total were granted across Spain in one single month. The average value of the mortgages also increased 3.8% year-over-year to €119, 613. 

Overall Spanish banks loaned out a total of €2.97 billion in July, an 38% increase on the July of last year. 

Things get interesting when comparing it to the month of June, as mortgage approvals dropped 15.8% in July compared to June. The likely cause for this is that July is the peak of the holiday season, when many potential buyers are focusing on spending time on the beach rather than spending their money on investments. 

Andalucía in the Costa del Sol saw the most home mortgages granted, as 4,577 mortgages were approved in July. This was ahead of Madrid and Catalonia, which saw a respective 4,379 and 4,348 mortgages approved. 

The popularity of Andalucía is kept high thanks to places such as Marbella, which has become one of the most popular choices for second homes in Spain. British, Irish, German, and Scandinavian buyers alike can’t get enough of the area. 

It looks like the uncertainty of an independence “referendum” has done nothing to deter investors in Catalonia. The real estate consultancy firm Sotheby’s International Realty said that they have seen record sales in Catalonia as it appears investors are not nervous at all about the potential secession of the region. 

Idealista collated data for house prices in Barcelona that showed the average property in the city has increased in value by 9.2% across 2017, which is another sign that politics is having little to no effect on investment.

One thing is clear, buying property in Spain continues to be very popular.

Spanish Mortgage Approvals Up 19.2% in June

Spanish Mortgage Approvals Up 19.2% in June

The data continues to be good for the Spanish property market

Official notary data for June in Spain has shown that the rate of mortgage approvals for residential property increased at the highest rate in a decade. 

The statistics show that the 23,223 mortgages granted across Spain in June of this year was 19.2% higher than in June of last year. The figure means that almost half – 45% - of the properties purchased in June were financed through mortgages. 

An overall total of 51,477 homes were registered as bought in Spain in June – an increase of 17.4% over June of last year, and the second-sharpest monthly increase since back in 2007. The only month in the decade since then that topped the sales from June was December 2012, when property transactions were inflated for that month ahead of new rules for income tax to be introduced in January 2013. 

The remarkable sales figures from June are another marker of the strengthening real estate sector of Spain, which has been boosted by sustained demand from domestic and foreign buyers alike, along with the increased generosity and less strict nature of lending criteria from Spanish banks and the increasing prices across almost every region in the country. 

The notary data showed there was a 1.4% price increase in June of this year compared to last year, with the average square metre of property selling at €1,358. The average size of mortgages reflected this increase in house prices, as the average mortgage has increased 6% to €129,704 with data revealing that mortgages accounted for an average of 76% of the total purchase price of houses bought via mortgages. 

The market for new builds is also on the increase, with sales of new properties rising 10.8% in June compared to June of last year.

Spanish Mortgage Approvals are up 16.8% in October 2016

Spanish Mortgage Approvals are up 16.8% in October 2016

The recovery is working well in Spain and the next 7 years

look fantastic

October 2016 marked the third consecutive month of Spanish mortgage approvals increasing following increases of 6.4% and 10% in August and September respectively.

The Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE) released provisional data last month that showed that the amount of mortgage approvals noted by the Property Registers was 22,581 in October; an increase of 16.8% compared to October 2015.

This marks the third consecutive month with rising mortgage approvals after a 6.4% increase in August and a 10% rise in September. It won’t come as a surprise to learn that the most approvals occurred in the autonomous regions of Andalucía (4,513), Madrid (3,904), and Catalunya (3,561). In terms of where the most money was lent the leaders were Madrid (€593.7 million), Catalunya (€450.3 million) and Andalucía (€423.8 million).

71.4% of the mortgages approved in October were made under variable rates, with 26.8% of them being fixed rate loans.

Spanish Mortgage Approvals up 6.4% in August

Spanish Mortgage Approvals up 6.4% in August

Confidence in the Spanish property industry is growing as the sales figures and prices grow. Part of this is thanks to banks becoming a little more willing to lend their money and fuel the market recovery.

Data was published last week by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showing that 20,309 mortgages were approved in August, which was 6.4% up on August of last year.

The growth continued the trend of increased mortgage approval levels over the past 25 out of 26 months. The only month that went against the grain was July of 2015. Every month in 2016 so far has seen an impressive number of mortgages approved as the Spanish are joining in with the Brits, Germans and Scandinavians in their hunt for Spanish property.

Taking a closer look at the data from August also shows that the average loan capital increased to €110,000; an increase of 4.8% over last year and a rise of 11.5% since August of 2015.

If you look at the year as a whole you’ll find that for the first eight months of 2016 there have been 186,000 new residential property mortgages approved in Spain. This is an increase of 13% over 2015, while taking a look at the past 12 months as a whole shows a 14% increase.

All in all Spanish banks have approved some 286,000 new mortgages over the last 12 months.