Year: 2016

Sareb Modifies Its Loan Portfolio Sales Policy

4 January 2016 – Expansión

The accounting circular prepared by the Bank of Spain has modified the provisioning criteria that Sareb has tried to follow until now and will also force it to modify its business practices in a segment that has been generating significant income for the entity, namely, the sale of large-loan portfolios, which it used to perform at year end and which is now being replaced by individual auctions.

Sareb used to close its year ends with a volume of activity that allowed it to fulfil the objectives established in the budget each year, by completing the sale of various asset portfolios, in particular loan portfolios, during the fourth quarter of the year. This option has been radically altered following the publication and entry into force of the accounting circular that governs the bad bank.

In the circular, the supervisor established the obligation to appraise all of Sareb’s assets (at market value) within two years (i.e. by the end of 2016), to enable the new asset values to be recorded on the balance sheet. This means leaving behind the global valuation approach and moving towards knowing the individual values of each one of the assets. Sareb ended last year (2015) having appraised 60% of its assets.

Under the previous method, Sareb was able to create asset portfolios and determine their initial asking prices by approximating their values based on the amounts initially paid to acquire them. That meant that some of the values were lower than market price and others were higher, but that Sareb’s managers were able to establish overall asking prices for their portfolios that allowed them to generate margins to cover the company’s general costs.

But by appraising the assets one by one, this compensation (margin) is no longer possible and now Sareb has to try to beat the market in each one of its transactions, which is difficult and even more so in the current climate, in which operations are happening again but no significant price increases have been registered yet.

Clean up

For this reason, even though, at the beginning of the autumn, the company led by Jaime Echegoyen (pictured above) said that several loan portfolios had been created, for sale before the end of the year, those sales have not actually gone ahead, because, on the one hand, certain elements are still being removed from these portfolios so that they do not distort any possible sale, and on the other hand, individual loan auctions are being planned, which will make any sales much more difficult because the auction process takes so much longer. (…).

These new asset valuations are going to force Sareb to make sizeable provisions for the negative difference compared with the loan purchase prices, which means that the bad bank is going to record significant losses once again, which means that it will have to convert some of the convertible debt that its shareholders subscribed to in order to restore the company’s equity situation. The final amount of the debt to capital transformation will not be confirmed until the re-appraisal process has been completed.

Original story: Expansión (by Salvador Arancibia)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid & Barcelona: Drivers Of The Housing Mini-Boom

4 January 2016 – Expansión

The housing market is now in full recovery mode, driven by the improving labour market and access to credit. House prices rose by 1% in 2015, which represented the first year of positive growth following seven years of decreases. Specifically, the average price per square metre increased by 1% between Q4 2015 and the same period a year earlier, according to Tinsa’s Local Markets Index. This put an end to the decreases seen following the burst of the real estate bubble during which time house prices decreased by 40.7%, compared with their levels in 2007.

According to Tinsa’s report, this 1% increase was driven by a miniboom in the large urban markets of Barcelona and Madrid, which accounted for the majority of the overall upward swing, together with other smaller cities such as Badajoz and Ávila. Thus, the Catalan capital recorded a 8.7% increase, whilst prices in Madrid rose by 3.8%. Significant increases were also registered in Badajoz (5.7%), Ávila (4.3%), Ciudad Real and Cuenca (3.3% in both cases) and Palma de Mallorca (2.2%).

According to the experts, several factors have led to the relatively sharp rise in house prices in these areas, such as the decrease in the volume of stock and the increase in demand. On the other hand, these areas have fewer remaining unsold homes, which means that demand is pushing prices up much more quickly. Unsurprisingly, Madrid is one of the most liquid markets in Spain, according to Tinsa, since it only takes 7.2 months, on average, to sell a home in the province, compared with 10.2 months for Spain as a whole. In addition, Madrid and Barcelona are both highly attractive areas, with demand from overseas savers and other citizens moving from the rest of Spain and overseas to work in the two cities.

Both areas have also seen a marked adjustment in terms of prices in recent years. In 2007, locals in Barcelona used to have to spend 36% of their average incomes on mortgage repayments, making it one of the most expensive cities in Spain; now, they have to contribute just 22% of their salaries, in line with the national average. In Madrid, that figure is one point lower (at 21%) and it only takes 5.3 years of salary to acquire an average home there, compared with 5.9 years for Spain as a whole.

Nevertheless, this is not the case in all of Spain’s large capital cities. Valencia recorded timid growth of 0.6% in 2015, whilst prices in Sevilla fell by 0.3%. The decreases amounted to 1.6% in the case of Bilbao, to 4% in Zaragoza and 6.7% in Murcia, still heavily affected by the surplus stock.

The striking variations between Spain’s major capitals is also reflected by the marked differences that exist between the different types of market in Spain, given that the majority of the country is still experiencing price decreases, or at best, price stability. That is one of the reasons why Tinsa prefers to talk about “a trend towards price stabilisation, which will be consolidated over the coming year”, rather than a general upturn in prices. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Pablo Cerezal)

Translation: Carmel Drake

‘High Risk’ Mortgages Account For 15% Of New Loans

4 January 2016 – Cinco Días

For the first time since 2008, all of the major indicators in the real estate market, including house prices, ended last year on a positive note. The improvement in employment was, undoubtedly, the factor that contributed the most to the increase in the sales volume and prices of homes. The second was credit. Not only did the number of operations continue to increase, also the Bank of Spain even highlighted in one of its reports that there had been a certain “relaxation” in the criteria for granting some kinds of loans.

One of the statistics that the supervisor publishes analyses the characteristics of new mortgages. According to this data, during the third quarter of 2015, the percentage of mortgages granted with an LTV of more than 80% increased to account for 15% of all new home loans granted. These mortgages are classified as high risk, since if the property decreases in value, the mortgage holder runs the risk of entering into negative equity, which is when the debt or liability (the mortgage) exceeds the value of the asset (the home).

The figure of 15% does not represent a series maximum, but it does fall at the top end of the range. The statistic was first published in 2004, when of this type of (high risk) mortgage accounted for 15.40% of the total volume of mortgages granted. By 2006, at the peak of the previous reale estate bubble, such mortgages reached their maximum, representing 18% of all new operations. It was not until the end of 2008, when the approaching crisis began to give its first clear warning signs, that these high risk mortgages decreased to their minimum level, of 10.30%.

The experts agree that this figure of 15% does not represent a concern yet, but they are certain that the Bank of Spain will be more vigilant this time around regarding entities that may be tempted to abuse such loans. The same sources explain that banks tend to end up granting high LTV mortgages, representing almost 100% of the appraisal value, when they relate to homes that have been held in their portfolios for a long time. Furthermore, they use these more favourable terms to speed up sales “although that does not mean that they do not perform the relevant solvency studies of the clients to which they are granting the loans” say sources at one appraisal company

Moreover, the fact that property prices are now on the rise once again dispels this higher risk, to a certain extent. On average, new mortgages now represent 62.4% of the appraisal value of properties, with an initial term of 22.8 years and an average interest rate of 2.5%.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Raquel Díaz Guijarro)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BFA-Bankia Sells €645M Loan Portfolio

4 January 2016 – Expansión

As a result of this operation, the entity has reduced its doubtful debt balance by €414.3 million (€410.5 million relates to Bankia and €3.8 million relates to BFA).

BFA-Bankia has sold a loan portfolio amounting to €645.1 million. All of the loans had been granted to the business sector and some had been secured by real estate collateral, according to a statement issued by the group on Tuesday 22 December 2015.

Through this operation, BFA-Bankia was seeking to achieve two objectives, namely: to increase liquidity and free up resources to grant new loans; and to reduce its default rate by selling off doubtful debts.

In fact, with the sale of this portfolio, the group has reduced its doubtful loan balance by €414.3 million, of which €410.5 million relates to Bankia and €3.8 million to BFA.

Of the total loan portfolio sold, €564.3 million came from Bankia’s balance sheet and another €80.8 million from BFA’s.

The group explained that this operation will have a “minimal (positive) impact” in terms of capital and that, to maximise the price obtained, the sale has been conducted as a competitive process between “first tier” institutional investors and financial entities.

“The entity is continuing to move forward with its commitment to divest all of its non-strategic assets”, the group said.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake