<< Back to Main Valencia Press ReleasesSpanish Banks become Spain 's Principal Estate Agents
Added: (Mar 2009)
Spanish banks have become the biggest players in the property sector with over € 7 billion worth of property assets on their books. The biggest bank cum estate agent by far is none other than Banco Santander with in the region of € 2.6 billion in property assets as well as an additional € 1.1 billion at its subsidiary Banesto. This week sees Banco Santander offering 1,100 properties for sale at discounts of up to 25% via its real estate arm namely “Altamira Santander Real Estate”. That said, as of the 9 th of March the company's website is still under construction which would lead one to believe that things are evolving on a day to day basis with regard to the “distressed properties” Santander has on its books.
Other major Spanish banks such as Banco Popular, Banco Sabadell, B.B.V.A., Caja Madrid & La Caixa have significant exposure to Spanish Distressed Property at € 1.5 billion, € 800 million, € 620 million, € 600 million and € 550 million respectively. Most banks have been forced to either offer their “distressed properties” direct to the public such as Banco de Valencia is doing or in the majority of cases resurrect or reinvigorate their property arms with for example Banco Popular using “Aliseda”, B.B.V.A selling via “Anida” and Banesto via “Promodomus”.
Here you have the link to the Banco de Valencia site :
In total, the Spanish banking sector has a property loans exposure of € 311 billion. The banking sector has accepted property assets in lieu of debt repayments so as to prevent companies mainly from going bankrupt. In addition, Spanish banks have spent € 6 billion in propping up Spanish Construction Companies by buying shares in these companies ( € 4 billion alone in the final quarter of 2008). The bad debt ratio among builders has increased to 4.57% (third quarter 2008) from a low of 0.3% at the beginning of 2007 while among property agents the figure has risen to 3.45% from a low of 0.5% in early 2007.
In the coming weeks Valencia Property Hound will be offering what it considers the best “Valencia City Distressed Property” from all the banks operating in Valencia at present which number in the region of 80 banks in total. It is worth remembering that the majority of distressed property in Spain isn't “repossessed property” as a significant proportion is property that was bought off plan whose original buyer is now unable to finance the purchase of the property. Private property owners who find themselves unable to meet their mortgage repayments are generally allowed by the bank to keep ownership of the property with the bank helping them to sell their property via the bank's website or property arm thereby avoiding a repossession.
Estimates vary between how much unsold property there presently is in Spain with figures varying between 1 and 2 million properties out of a national housing stock of 21-22 million units. That being the case there is plenty of room for manoeuvre especially for the shrewd property buyer who knows where he/she wants to buy and is willing to do the necessary homework as well as footwork. All the more reason to use Valencia's Premier Property Search and Property Investment Company, namely, “Valencia Property Hound”.
Whether it is Valencia Property, Valencia F1 Property or Valencia City Yacht Charter : Valencia Property Hound should be your first port of call.
Article by Dermot Quinn, Valencia Property Hound Ltd
