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Spain Business Brief - Monday April 7 2008
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By h.b. - Apr 7, 2008 - 1:05 PM
Increasing concern about the real estate slowdown in Spain
Banks in Spain could oblige families who have taken out mortgages with them to offer more assets as a guarantee if the price of their property is considered to have fallen by more than 20% in value as the real estate slowdown continues to bite in Spain. The measure will be taken if negative equity arises, and comes as the International Monetary Fund has forecast that the fall in house prices across the country will be between 15% and 20%.
The IMF has called on a concerted action by world governments to stop the crisis arising from a lack of liquidity, which it says is now also threatening developing countries such as China and India.
The ex President of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, has meanwhile blamed the real estate bubble on ‘a calculating error’ in the market.
Meanwhile back in Spain the real estate promoters in Madrid have said they will make no more predictions about any house price falls. Last week they forecast an 8% fall in prices in the capital, only to go back on it a day later. Today they have called for the crisis to be solved as soon as possible so stability can be brought back to the sector.
More evidence has been seen of price reductions in property, and one of the troubled companies, Habitat has announced it is putting 1,400 new properties up for rental.
Iberdola has denied that it is blocking a merger in the future with Gas Natural. The power company has said that it has not held any negotiations with Gas Natural or La Caixa to block any eventual deal. The financial media in Spain had said that the sharing of power within the company was blocking a future agreement.
A complaint placed by the Consumers organisation FACUA has resulted in fines for the travel agents Halcón Viajes, Viajes Iberia and Air Europa for misleading advertising. The companies have been fined amounts ranging from 3,000 to 14,000 € because their advertising did not specify the final price in offers.
Vueling and Clickair are now reported to be just a month away from their merger. The sharing of shares between the main players is expected to result in a 40% holding in the new company for Iberia. The merged company, which as yet is not named, will be based in Barcelona.
And finally,
The number of 500 € notes in circulation in Spain remained static over the first two months of the year, following the record numbers registered in December last year. The Bank of Spain said in February there were a total number of 112 million 500 € notes in circulation here, 2 million down on the December number.
It comes as the Agencia Tributaria has recently been acting against the fraudulent use of the currency, with Hacienda investigating as many as 12,000 operations using more than 1,000 of the notes.
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Spain Business Brief - Monday April 7 2008
larger | smaller
By h.b. - Apr 7, 2008 - 1:05 PM
Archive Photo EFE
Banks in Spain could oblige families who have taken out mortgages with them to offer more assets as a guarantee if the price of their property is considered to have fallen by more than 20% in value as the real estate slowdown continues to bite in Spain. The measure will be taken if negative equity arises, and comes as the International Monetary Fund has forecast that the fall in house prices across the country will be between 15% and 20%.
The IMF has called on a concerted action by world governments to stop the crisis arising from a lack of liquidity, which it says is now also threatening developing countries such as China and India.
The ex President of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, has meanwhile blamed the real estate bubble on ‘a calculating error’ in the market.
Meanwhile back in Spain the real estate promoters in Madrid have said they will make no more predictions about any house price falls. Last week they forecast an 8% fall in prices in the capital, only to go back on it a day later. Today they have called for the crisis to be solved as soon as possible so stability can be brought back to the sector.
More evidence has been seen of price reductions in property, and one of the troubled companies, Habitat has announced it is putting 1,400 new properties up for rental.
Iberdola has denied that it is blocking a merger in the future with Gas Natural. The power company has said that it has not held any negotiations with Gas Natural or La Caixa to block any eventual deal. The financial media in Spain had said that the sharing of power within the company was blocking a future agreement.
A complaint placed by the Consumers organisation FACUA has resulted in fines for the travel agents Halcón Viajes, Viajes Iberia and Air Europa for misleading advertising. The companies have been fined amounts ranging from 3,000 to 14,000 € because their advertising did not specify the final price in offers.
Vueling and Clickair are now reported to be just a month away from their merger. The sharing of shares between the main players is expected to result in a 40% holding in the new company for Iberia. The merged company, which as yet is not named, will be based in Barcelona.
And finally,
The number of 500 € notes in circulation in Spain remained static over the first two months of the year, following the record numbers registered in December last year. The Bank of Spain said in February there were a total number of 112 million 500 € notes in circulation here, 2 million down on the December number.
It comes as the Agencia Tributaria has recently been acting against the fraudulent use of the currency, with Hacienda investigating as many as 12,000 operations using more than 1,000 of the notes.
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