Ministry Of Development: 5.5% Fewer Homes Were Built In 2015

22 February 2016 – El Economista

Between January and November 2015, 41,424 homes were constructed in Spain, which represents a decrease of 5.5% compared with the same period a year earlier (43,823), according to data published by the Ministry of Development and reported by Servimedia.

As such, the number of new homes constructed in Spain continued its downward trend in 2015, following seven consecutive years of decreases leading up to 2014.

99.2% (41,102) of the homes completed during the 11 months to November related to private developers, whilst the remaining 0.8% (322) related to public administrations.

The construction of homes decreased by 5.2% in the case of private developers and by 31% in the case of public administrations, compared with a year earlier.

In the private segment, 23,491 homes related to commercial companies, representing a YoY decrease of 1.5%; 14,236 related to individual people and communities of owners (down by 0.4%); and 1,646 related to cooperatives (down by 47.8%). In addition, 1,729 completion permits related to homes constructed by other types of private developer.

Meanwhile, the liquidation value of the physical construction work decreased by 6.7% to €5,643.4 million during the 11 months to November 2015.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: Primary Residence Mortgage Foreclosures Fall By 12.4%

4 December 2015 – ABC

During Q3 2015, 5,959 primary residence mortgages were foreclosed, which represents a decrease of 12.4% compared with the same period in 2014, according to the mortgage foreclosure statistics published on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). In inter-quarterly terms (the third quarter compared with the second quarter), mortgage foreclosures involving primary residences decreased by 31.3%.

The primary objective of this statistic is to provide information about the number of mortgage foreclosures initiated and registered in the Property Registers during the quarter in question. INE points out that not all mortgage foreclosure procedures that are launched end with the eviction of tenants. During the third quarter, 19,403 mortgage foreclosures were launched, 17.8% fewer than during the same period in 2014 and 32.9% fewer than during the second quarter. Of those, 18,344 related to urban properties (including homes) and 1,058 related to rural properties.

The number of mortgage foreclosures over urban properties decreased by 18.5% with respect to Q3 2014 and by 33.2% with respect to the previous quarter. Of the urban properties, 11,584 foreclosures related to homes, i.e. 59.7% of the total, and this figure represented a decrease of 15.6% compared to the same period in 2014. In terms of homes, mortgage foreclosures over homes owned by individuals amounted to 7,590 during the third quarter (down by -13.8% YoY), of which 5,959 were the primary residences of those individuals, whilst 1,631 were not the owners’ primary residences. The number in the latter category decreased by 18.4% with respect to the third quarter 2014.

Meanwhile, there were 3,995 mortgage foreclosures over homes owned by legal entities during the third quarter, a decrease of 18.9% with respect to the same period last year. According to INE, mortgage foreclosure procedures were initiated for just 0.03% of the total stock of family homes in Spain (18,378,100) between July and September 2015.

Decreasing trend for new builds and second-hand housing

Of the total number of mortgage foreclosures recorded involving homes during the third quarter, 9,971 related to second-hand homes, which represented a YoY decrease of 13.3%. Foreclosures over new homes amounted to 1,613, i.e. 27.8% fewer than during the same quarter in 2014. The statistics also reveal that, during the third quarter, 20.3% of the home mortgage foreclosures launched related to mortgages constituted in 2007; 17.2% related to mortgages granted in 2006; and 11.3% corresponded to mortgages signed in 2008. Put another way, 59.8% of the mortgage foreclosures initiated during the third quarter related to mortgages constituted between 2005 and 2008.

Between July and September, mortgage foreclosures over land amounted to 615, representing a YoY decrease of 55.9% and a QoQ decline of 49.5%. Meanwhile, mortgage foreclosures relating to commercial premises, garages, offices, storerooms, warehouses and other urban buildings amounted to 6,145, i.e. 16.8% fewer than during the third quarter last year and 31.9% fewer than during the previous quarter. Finally, there were 1,059 mortgage foreclosures involving rural properties during the third quarter, which represented a YoY decrease of 3.7% and a QoQ drop of 27.2%.

Andalucía leads the ranking

By autonomous region, Andalucía led the number of foreclosures involving homes during the third quarter, with 2,984 in total, followed by Valencia (2,339) and Cataluña (2,022). At the opposite end of the spectrum were Navarra and País Vasco, with just 63 foreclosures each. In terms of the number of foreclosed properties, Andalucía also led the ranking, with 5,019, followed by Valencia (3,718) and Cataluña (3,207). At the tail end were Navarra (99) and La Rioja and Cantabria (112).

Original story: ABC

Translation: Carmel Drake