Spanish Lending news

News for lending in Spain relating to November 2013 was published yesterday.

Who publishes the Spanish mortgage news

Each month the national statistic office in Spain publishes data taken from land registry as to the number and types of mortgages completed.

In November 2013 there was yet another month of reduced mortgage lending against residential property. This trend has continued for a number of years but was slightly skewed by the high number of completions in the previous year as buyers rushed to Notary to complete on purchases before tax breaks were withdrawn.

Are there positives to be taken from the data

It is dificult to say whether Novembers data is just a continuation of the previous trends or a blip caused by unusual activity from the same time the previous year.

The first few months of 2014 will dictate whether the corner has turned on mortgage lending in Spain or if we still have a way to go.

What is the current attitude of the Spanish Banks

Whilst not as yet showing in the figures published there is now a desire within the Banking industry to start lending again.

Whilst the past few years have seen Spanish Banks reduce their mortgage books by design, it would appear the tide has turned.

In order to maintain their current customer bases and all the linked products that a mortgage brings Spanish Banks have this year re-introdcued lending targets and appear to have some flexibilty on pricing for the right clients and an improved mortgage service.

Read the full article :News for Spanish Mortgage lending

WiII lending in Spain improve in 2014

What happened in 2013

2013 was one of the worst years for mortgages in Spain since the crisis began.

A number of lenders withdrew from the market and pricing and criterias tightened. All Banks in Spain continued to reduce their mortgage books and no lender was activley pursuing new mortgage clients.

Have things changed for 2014

Toward the back end of 2013 and into early January it became clear there was a wind of change.
In the last couppe of weeks we have seen lenders who had withdrawn from the non resident mortgage market come back to the market with new product and those who remained in the market starting to flex their portfolio.

What is the most marked change in lenders attitude

The most telling sign that things will improve in the Spanish Mortgage market is that this year all Branches and Branch staff have been given mortgage targets.

In both 2012 and 2013 due to the lack of focus on lending, mortgage targets were non existent.  The fact mortgage targets are now back in place is the best indication yet that the Spanish Banks are back in the market.

How quickly will this change impact on availibilty

The impact of having mortgage targets is immediate but other changes like reductions in interest rates, more flexible criteria and possibly increased loan to values will be a slow process. It is unlikely that we will see major improvements to overall terms in the immediate future but a level of negotiation will become increasingly possible.

Read the full article: Is there a wind of change for mortgages in Spain

Whats new in the lending market Spain for 2014

2013 for Spanish Banks and Spanish lending became one of the worst years ever.

 

What happened

Lenders continued to withdraw from aggresivley lending and all Banks in Spain shrunk their mortgage books throughout the year.

Rates climbed as margins above Euribor increased despite the drops in the ECB base rate and subsequent drops in the 12 month Euribor.

Criterias for applicants remained tight and underwriting continued to be very volatile.

Are there any changes expected for 2014

A few of the Banks who had either withdrawn from Spanish lending particularily in the non resident market have come back into the market with mortgage product and there are some signs that Banks will have lending budgets for this year.

What is not envisaged is a fundamental change to rates, adding of compulsory products or an easing of loan to values and criterias.

Has liquidity eased for the Spanish Banks

Most Spanish Banks during 2013 consolidated their position to meet new guidlines as specified by the Bank of Spain. Bolstering of balance sheets was the name of the game in 2013 and this will continue in 2014.

Raising of capital either by way of sale of assets, rights issues or by third party investment has helped improve the overall situation. In particular South American Banks have seen buying into Spanish Banks as a good long term investmnet for the future.

Read full article : Whats new for Spanish mortgage lending in 2014