House Prices Will Fall by 6% and House Sales by 35% in 2020, According to Bankinter

Home-buying decisions will be postponed for between 6 and 12 months, and some of the demand will disappear for longer, resulting in a temporary imbalance between supply and demand.

House sales will amount to around 326,000 units by the end of this year, levels similar to the minimums registered between 2012 and 2014, according to a study carried out by analysts at Bankinter. That figure represents a 35% drop in operations compared to the number registered last year, when more than half a million homes were sold.

In its report, Bankinter also predicts a 6% fall in house prices this year, a figure that coincides with the estimates published by the Swiss bank UBS. However, both entities believe that the impact on real estate will be temporary. “Spain is facing an unprecedented economic shock, which we hope will be temporary,” said the bank led by María Dolores Dancausa.

Ores: “Revenues from the Supermarkets and Hypermarkets Comfortably Cover the Company’s Expenses”

The Socimi backed by Bankinter and Sonae Sierra, which owns 37 commercial properties, is negotiating rent deferrals and moratoriums with its tenants who have had to close their businesses due to Covid-19.

The Socimi Ores, the commercial asset company controlled by Sonae Sierra and Bankinter, has reported the impact of Covid-19 on its real estate portfolio, which comprises 37 commercial properties.

The company, which operates in the Spanish market as well as in Portugal, has highlighted that more than half of its assets correspond to supermarkets and hypermarkets. They have not been affected by the closures imposed by the State of Emergency, introduced first in Spain on 14 March and then in Portugal on 18 March, and so they are continuing to operate. These properties account for 64% of the Socimi’s annual income, equivalent to €14 million, say the managers of Ores.

Spain’s Banks Prepare for a Mass Sale of Refinanced Mortgages Ahead of a European Regulatory Change

14 January 2020 – Expansión

Spain’s large banks are preparing for the mass sale of refinanced mortgage portfolios to opportunistic investment funds over the course of this year, ahead of a European regulatory change that will come into effect from January 2021. The new rules will require most refinanced debt to be classified as non-performing loans, which will impose more onerous capital requirements on the entities holding those assets.

Refinanced mortgages are those whose borrowers are currently up to date with their repayments but whose terms (economic conditions or duration) have been adjusted to avoid defaulted payments.

In the year to September 2019, Spain’s eight listed banks (Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Bankia, Sabadell, Bankinter, Unicaja and Liberbank) removed problem loans amounting to almost €37 million from their balance sheets. No detailed figures are compiled about refinanced mortgages, but sources in the sector estimate that a new market worth thousands of millions of euros could be generated as a result of the upcoming legislative change.

According to the new criteria to be introduced by the European Central Bank, refinanced loans will be classified as non-performing if the associated income generated by them falls by more than 1% as a result of the new terms of the loan. With such a strict threshold, almost all such loans will, therefore, be classified as non-performing.

In this context, a new market is expected to emerge whereby the banks try to divest portfolios of refinanced mortgages that are still considered healthy, but at lower prices.

The likely winners will be opportunistic funds, such as Cerberus, Blackstone and Lone Star, which typically buy doubtful assets with average discounts of 70%, and go on to generate double-digit returns through a combination of synergies and economies of scale.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Sampedro)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Atom Hoteles Acquires NH Las Tablas for €21.3 Million

3 January 2020 The socimi Atom Hoteles, which Bankinter and Global Myner Advisors Capital Investment incorporated in 2018, has acquired the NH Las Tablas hotel in Madrid for 21.3 million euros.

The 4-star hotel is located in Madrid at Avenida de Burgos 131. The hotel has 149 rooms and 174 parking spaces.

 

La socimi Atom Hoteles, que Bankinter y Global Myner Advisors Capital Investment incorporaron en 2018, adquirió el hotel NH Las Tablas en Madrid por 21,3 millones de euros.

El hotel de 4 estrellas se encuentra en Madrid, en la Avenida de Burgos 131. El hotel cuenta con 149 habitaciones y 174 plazas de aparcamiento.

Original Story: Expansión

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

 

Sonae and Bankinter to Launch Second Socimi, This Time in Portugal

11 December 2019 – After the success of their jointly-controlled socimi in Spain, Sonae and Bankinter are planning on launching a new investment vehicle in Portugal in 2020. The new socimi will have an initial investment capacity of 100 million euros and will eventually seek a stock market listing in Portugal.

The new socimi reportedly will not focus on any single type of real estate asset. Instead, it will invest in a wide range of assets, from commercial real estate to offices, along with logistics assets and other investments.

The two firms’ socimi in Spain mainly invests in commercial real estate and is aimed at Bankinter’s private banking clients. Ores currently controls a portfolio 34 assets with a combined market value of over 357 million euros and an annual gross income of 21 million euros.

Original Story: Idealista – Custodio Pareja

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

The Pace of NPL Sales Falters in Spain

6 December 2019 – Spanish banks have reduced their pace of sales of NPLs this year, as CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankia, Bankinter, Unicaja and Liberbank unloaded a total of just 4.9 billion euros in the first nine months of 2019. Those financial institutions wrapped up the quarter with €35.006 billion of such assets on their books, 12% less than at the beginning of the year. In contrast, Spain’s banks in sold off €90 billion in non-performing loans and REOs in 2018.

Standard & Poor’s, on the other hand, published a report in February estimating that Spain’s banks should rid themselves of €30 billion in NPLS between 2019 and 2020. That figure would have lowered their collective NPL ratio to below 4% compared to 7% at the time. Both S&P and Spain’s central bank also argued that the banks needed to increase the pace of sales to prepare for a potential slowdown in the economy.

Original Story: El Economista – Eva Díaz

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

 

Bankinter Acquires Primark’s Future Flagship Store in Barcelona

18 November 2019 – Zambal, a socimi managed by IBA Capital Partners, has sold the future Primark flagship store at Plaça de Cataluyna 23, in Las Ramblas, Barcelona, to a group of Spanish investors led by Bankinter.

The company sold an 89% stake in Trébol Core Properties, the company that owns the asset, for 71 million euros. IBA Capital Partners will continue to manage both the property and the company.

Primark expects to open the store early next year.

Original Story: Idealista

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Atom Hoteles Acquires Two Hotels in the Canary Islands for €68 Million

8 October 2019 The socimi Atom Hoteles, which is controlled by Bankinter and Global Myner Advisors Capital Investment, will undergo an €80-million capital increase to finance its acquisition of the 439-room Isla Bonita de Tenerife and the 125-room Riviera Marina de Gran Canaria hotels. The firm agreed to pay 52.6 million euros for the first hotel and 15 million euros for the second, for a total of €67.6 million.

Atom Hoteles also announced that it had reached an agreement with the FTI Group’s Meeting Point Hotel Managements to operate the two 4-star units under its Labranda Hotels & Resorts brand. Either party may opt to extend the 12.5-year lease. Meeting Point will pay 6% of each unit’s revenues in rent, with a minimum guaranteed amount of just over 6% of the acquisition price.

The agreement also stipulates that Meeting Point will invest approximately €25.6 million in the Isla Bonita hotel and approximately six million euros in the Riviera Marina hotel to upgrade and reposition the assets.

Original Story: La Vanguardia / Europa Press

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Insur Refinances €100 Million in Outstanding Debts

20 July 2019 – Richard D. K. Turner

Inmobiliaria del Sur (Insur) took advantage of favorable market conditions to refinance its outstanding debt this week. The firm refinanced 100 million euros of debt, equal to 60% of its total net liabilities, at significantly better conditions, freeing up over 35 million euros over the next five years. Insur owns rental properties, including offices, commercial premises and car parks.

Insur Patrimonial arranged the refinancing in an operation involving a total of 11 banks, led by Santander. Those banks include Caixabank, BBVA, Unicaja, Sabadell, Bankinter and Novo Banco. In addition to the €100 million, the firm also borrowed another €10 million to acquire an office building in Seville for redevelopment into a hotel to be leased to Hotusa.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Carlos Pizá de Silva

Photo: F. Ruso

Ores Acquires Store Leased to Inditex for €11 Million

23 June 2019Idealista

The Ores socimi, which is owned by Bankinter, has just acquired a new commercial space. The store, located in the town of San Sebastián, is currently leased to the Spanish retail giant Inditex and has a total area of ​​729m2.

The store is located at 26 Calle San Marcial and is occupied by a Zara Kids store.

Ores paid €10.9 million for the asset as part of its continuing strategy to seek growth in its home market of Spain. Last year, the socimi paid out almost 180 million euros in acquisitions. Ores Socimi currently has 34 assets in its portfolio, with a market value of over 357 million euros and a gross annual income of 21 million euros.

Original Story: Idealista – Custodio Pareja

Translation/Summary – Richard D. Turner