Santander Delays the Sale of a Mortgage Portfolio Worth €1.5bn

The coronavirus crisis hit when the entity chaired by Ana Botín was on the verge of closing Project Prometeo, which contains between 15,000 and 20,000 mortgages.

The coronavirus is beginning to stop real estate transactions. Banco Santander was completing the sale of almost 20,000 mortgages to a large international fund for more than €1.5 billion. The bidding was being led by the British firm M&G and Pimco. Nevertheless, the operation has been suspended. Attempts will be made to resume it in the coming weeks, although it may be delayed until May, according to El Confidencial. The entity itself declined to comment.

The portfolio known as Project Prometeo contains between 15,000 and 20,000 mortgage loans valued at €2.1 billion. The operation was launched in parallel to Project Atlas, which was closed successfully earlier this month. Specifically, it was sold to Canada’s largest pension fund on 6 March.

Barcelona City Council Orders the Stoppage of Private Building Projects

In the Catalan capital, granted construction licenses have been suspended and public building projects have been halted.

Barcelona City Council has ordered the stoppage of private building projects on the street. The city’s Deputy Mayor for Security, Albert Batlle, has announced the suspension of the city’s public building projects and has asked the private sector to do the same.

In fact, the City Council has suspended all of the municipal licences granted to date. Therefore, in the Catalan capital, work will continue only on the construction of the Fòrum port dam and the pumping of groundwater from the Glòries tunnel project, in both cases for safety reasons.

Madrid Nuevo Norte Receives the Go Head from the Urban Planning Committee

The Urban Planning Committee has unanimously voted in favour of the regional Government’s approval of the most important urban development project in Southern Europe.

The Community of Madrid is due to approve the Madrid Nuevo Norte Project (formerly known as Operación Chamartín) on 25 March after the Urban Planning Committee, which met on 16 March, unanimously voted in favour of the regional government’s approval of the most important urban development project in Southern Europe. This is the first step towards the final approval of the project by the regional government, after it received approval from the City Council several months ago.

36 members form part of the Urban Planning Committee, which met remotely by video call in light of the coronavirus health pandemic (Covid-19). The committee is chaired by the Minister for the Environment, Planning and Sustainability, Paloma Martín, and its Vice President is Mariano González, Vice Councillor of that regional department.

 

House Sales Fells by 2.6% in January to Begin the Year in Negative Territory

The decrease registered in January was a consequence of a 1.2% decrease in the sale of second-hand homes and an 8.8% reduction in the sale of new homes.

House sales fell by 2.6% in January compared to the same month in 2019, to 46,927 operations, the lowest figure in a month of January since 2017, according to Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE). With this reduction, house sales returned to negative interannual rates after rising by 1.8% in December 2019.

The decrease registered in January was a consequence of a 1.2% decrease in the sale of second-hand homes to 38,443 transactions and an 8.8% reduction in the sale of new homes to 8,484 operations.

The Banks ask the Government to Copy Germany and Guarantee Some of its Loans

The balance sheets of Spain’s banks could end up with toxic assets on them once again, like during the financial crisis of 2008, which could put their activity at risk.

The Spanish financial sector is asking the Government to guarantee some of the loans that are now being requested by a multitude of companies and self-employed people, and to activate similar measures to those planned in Italy and those approved in Germany to alleviate the effects of the coronavirus, according to Vozpópuli.

Various sources, such as Spanish banks and other organisations, such as the sector’s trade association, the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), are uniting to highlight the importance of the Executive agreeing to guarantee their loans during the coronavirus crisis, through institutions such as the ICO.

Thousands of New Mortgages, Building Projects & House Sales in Jeopardy due to Coronavirus

The sector fears a significant drop in the volume of business in the residential sector, with the difficulty of physically signing house sales that have already been agreed. This could affect 83,700 transactions in March and April alone. The same is true of new purchases given the severe restrictions imposed on leaving the house right across Spain.

A devastating month of March (at best) for the economy and, therefore, for the Spanish residential sector. The rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus has resulted in the entry into force of a state of emergency across Spain, as approved by an Extraordinary Meeting of the Cabinet on Saturday. This represents a challenge for activity in the real estate sector, in particular. Meeting the forecasts for the first quarter will prove impossible, with the movement of people restricted to all but the bare minimum. The fallout for employment and the economy, in general, is going to be far-reaching.

The first obvious impact on the residential sector has been on house viewings. Potential buyers have been cancelling viewings with real estate agencies for days. Sale and purchase signings have also been cancelled for fear of contagion and also of a major recession, according to industry sources. Some real estate companies will rely on virtual house visits for the time being, such as the case of Aedas Homes, which launched its online sales platform, Live, just a few months ago. It is the only platform in the world that allows homes to be visited virtually, with potential buyers being accompanied by a real estate agent. A similar initiative has been introduced by Century 21, which will use virtual reality to show homes and offer real estate advice through video calls. In addition, for the final phase of the house sale, the signing of contracts, and like companies such as CBRE, Vía Célere and Aedas Homes have already done, agencies are enabling a technological solution that allows the sending and signing of documents online with full legal validity and without the need to download applications.

Citi Moves its Private Banking Core for Southern Europe to Madrid Due to Brexit

The Spanish capital will be a fundamental pillar for the investment banking arm for Southern Europe. The people who will join the Madrid office, mainly from London, include bankers, investment advisers and other professionals specialising in administration.

The bank has decided to transfer its private banking core for Southern Europe to Madrid from London due to Brexit. A Spanish trident sits at the top of Citi: Paco Ybarra is the Head of the Institutional Clients Group; Manolo Falcó is the Global Co-director of Investment Banking, and Fernando López Muñoz is the Director of Private Banking for Southern Europe. The business area in Spain and Portugal, which currently employs about 25 people, will add another ten staff members by September, according to Cinco Días.

The Spanish capital will be a fundamental pillar for the investment banking arm for Southern Europe. This division contributes around 35% of the business for that regional unit, which includes Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and Turkey. In turn, these countries represent a ‘mine’ for the business of all of EMEA: Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Santander Explores How to Securitise NPLs Through Deva Capital

The entity has created the company Deva Capital as a vehicle to explore the purchase of damaged assets from financial institutions around the world, according to various financial sources consulted by the newspaper Expansión. Investment banking sources stress that Santander’s subsidiary in Brazil already acquires these types of assets from the banks through its real estate servicer.

The entity has created the company Deva Capital as a vehicle to explore the purchase of damaged assets from financial institutions around the world, according to various financial sources consulted by the newspaper Expansión. Investment banking sources stress that Santander’s subsidiary in Brazil already acquires these types of assets from the banks through its real estate servicer.

This would represent a major step-change in the NPL market, which in recent years has attracted interest from opportunistic funds because of the returns it offers. Official sources at Santander declined to comment on the reports.

 

Hoteliers Offer Their Properties for Those Affected by Coronavirus

The hotel chains Room Mate and Ayre are offering their hotels in the capital to help those affected by the coronavirus.

Yesterday, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the President of the Community of Madrid, announced that hotels, exhibition halls and nursing homes will be turned into medical facilities to treat mild cases as part of an effort to offer temporary specialist care between the home and the hospital.

Hours beforehand, the CEOs of the hotel chains Room Mate and Ayre announced on social media that they would make various hotels in Madrid available for the authorities to use to accommodate those affected by coronavirus. Kike Sarasola, President and founder of Room Mate Hoteles tweeted: “I am making two of my hotels available in Madrid to accommodate all the cases necessary in the face of this health crisis.”

His colleague Abel Matutes Prats is doing the same.

 

The Government Approves Aid for Tourism and Airlines to Mitigate the Effects of the Coronavirus

The Government has approved discounts on Social Security payments, €400 million from the ICO to alleviate the ravages of the coronavirus on the tourism and hotel sectors, and protection for airline slots, together with aid for the health sector and the autonomous regions. The aim is to avoid a larger reduction in GDP, which the most optimistic forecasts estimate will grow by two-tenths less.

Hoteliers, airlines and travel agencies all agree. It is still too early to assess the effects of the coronavirus crisis on one sector, that of tourism, which is so key for the Spanish economy. The growth of tourism GDP, which accounts for almost 12% of global GDP, has been slowing over the past few years, to the point that it grew below the rate of the Spanish economy in 2018 for the first time since the economic crisis.

Uncertainty is at an all-time high and the impact will depend on the evolution of the epidemic, but activity has already contracted, accentuated by temporary adjustments to workforces.