Tag: autonomous regions

Idealista: Rental Prices Rose By 4.3% In Q1 2016

12 April 2016 – Idealista

The price of rental housing increased by 4.3% during the first quarter of 2016, taking the price per m2 to €7.40/m2/month, according to a report published by Idealista. In YoY terms, the increase amounted to 5.2%.

For Fernando Encinar, Head of Research at Idealista, “on the basis of the data in the report, it is clear that there is a huge demand for rental housing and that the supply is rising strongly. Unlike in the market for house sales, monthly rental prices are increasing in a general and uniform way across the whole country, which means that the segment is growing in a robust and stable way”.

“Moreover, at Idealista we have found that in certain markets, primarily, major capitals, the pressure of demand is so great that adverts are appearing on our database for just a few hours…(…)”.

By autonomous region

All of the autonomous regions recorded higher rental prices than three months ago, with the exception of Euskadi (where they decreased by 4%). The greatest increase was recorded in the Balearic Islands, where prices rose by 11.2%. That was followed by increases in Madrid (5.2%), Valencia (5%) and Cataluña (4.7%). By contrast, the smallest increases were observed in Extremadura (0.3%), Cantabria (1%), Canarias (1%) and Castilla La Mancha (1.2%).

Madrid (at €11.5/m2/month) is still the most expensive autonomous region. It is followed by Cataluña (€11/m2/month), the Balearic Islands (€10/m2/month) and Euskadi (€9.6/m2/month). At the other end of the table, the most affordable autonomous regions are: Extremadura (€4.1/m2/month), Castilla La Mancha (€4.4/m2/month) and La Rioja (€4.9/m2/month).

By province

Rental prices also increased in 38 provinces over the winter. The highest increase was recorded in the Balearic Islands, where prices rose by 11.2%. Significant price increases were also recorded in Valencia (6.7%), Pontevedra (5.9%), Huelva (5.5%) and Madrid (5.2%). Meanwhile, the largest decreases were registered in Tarragona (-8.6%), followed by Vizcaya (-6.1%) and Cáceres (-1.8%).

The ranking of the most expensive provinces is led by Barcelona (€12.6/m2/month), Madrid (€11.5/m2/month) and Guipúzcoa (€10.2/m2/month). Jaén is the most affordable province for renting a home, at €3.7/m2/month. It is followed by Cáceres and Ávila (€3.8/m2/month in both cases).

By capital city

Valencia is the capital city where rental prices rose by the most in Q1, with growth of 8.8%. Significant rental price increases were also recorded in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (7.5%) and Palma de Mallorca (6.5%). At the other end of the spectrum is Bilbao, where owners are now asking 5.8% less to lease their homes than they were 3 months ago. That was followed by decreases in Ávila (-3%), Tarragona and Jaén (-2.8% in both cases).

Barcelona strengthened its position as the most expensive capital (€15.2/m2/month), followed by Madrid (€12.9/m2/month) and San Sebastián (€11.7/m2/month). Meanwhile, the most affordable capitals were Lugo and Ourense, with prices of €4/m2/month and €4.3/m2/month, respectively.

Original story: Idealista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Echegoyen Confirms That Sareb Will Have To Convert Debt

20 October 2015 – Expansión

The President of Sareb also announced that the entity will increase the number of social housing properties (from 2,000) to 4,000.

Yesterday, at a meeting of the Senate’s Finance Committee, the President of Sareb, Jaime Echegoyen, discussed the recent developments to affect the so-called ‘bad bank’, which announced its results for the first half of the year last Friday, reporting a reduction in losses of 23%.

Echegoyen confirmed that the application of the new accounting standards, defined by the Bank of Spain’s Circular published in September, will affect the solvency of Sareb. The new standards require Sareb to assign an individual market value to each one of the entity’s assets, with the consequent need for new provisions. However, the President confirmed that the group’s convertible subordinated debt, amounting to €3,600 million, will be more than sufficient to cover this eventual hole in its solvency.

The senior executive of Sareb also acknowledged that the hiring of third parties to manage the asset portfolio slowed down sales processes during the first half of the year, due to the complexity and length of time involved in the process to materially transfer the management of those assets. Nevertheless, he appeared confident that the cruising speed of sales will be recovered again during the second half of the year.

During the first half of the year, revenues decreased by 10%.

When questioned by several senators about the hedging swap contracted by Sareb in 2013, Echegoyen explained that this contract would mature in 2022. Until then, all profits and losses associated with it are “theoretical”, since the actual result will only be known upon maturity. Nevertheless, the banker commented that during the first half of the year, the contract generated theoretical gains of €400 million.

Social housing

Echegoyen also used his appearance to announce that Sareb has increased its stock of social housing available to autonomous regions from 2,000 to 4,000 homes. That means that the bad bank is making available an additional 2,000 homes to the regional administrations.

Currently, Sareb has collaboration agreements in place in Cataluña, Aragón, Galica, País Vasco and the Balearic Islands and is waiting to sign two more in the Canary Islands and Castilla y León. The President added that the entity is also in advanced talks with Castilla La Mancha, Valencia, Cantabria and Madrid and he announced that discussions have also begun in Andalucía, Asturias and Extremadura.

Original story: Expansión (by M.R.)

Translation: Carmel Drake