Tag: non-payment

Spain’s Banking Sector Fears ECB Stress Tests

27 November 2017 – Voz Pópuli

Spain’s banks are facing a new perfect storm, albeit on paper. In an already difficult scenario in which the financial institutions are having to adapt to the new provisioning requirements (IFRS 9), they are also having to deal with the upcoming stress tests that are being prepared for 2018.

If we take an analogy by way of example – what is happening in the banking sector is equivalent to what would happen to a student if a decision was taken to change the language of his/her class and then a few months later force him/her to take an entrance exam in that new language. The entities have gone to the wire to try and persuade the authorities to examine them in their native language (based on their current provisions) but the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the ECB have outright refused.

The new provisions mean a radical change in the model. Until now, the banks recognise losses when their loans are impaired, in other words, when non-payments begin. Under the new system, the banks will have to anticipate advance signs of impairment.

A report from the consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal estimates that the potential impact of the new IFRS 9 provisions on the stress tests is 465 basis points. More than half of that amount will come about in the first of the three years covered by the exercise, which reflects that from now on, crises are going to hit banks faster.

Impact

If we apply these calculations to the latest official figures from the sector (published on Friday as part of the EBA’s transparency exercise), the result in the loss of one-third of the regulatory capital (CET 1). Even so, they are stress test scenarios and so will not necessarily happen.

KutxaBank and Bankia were the entities with the largest buffers in the last year of transparency, with more than 14% of capital, although the group chaired by José Ignacio Gorigiolzarri will see its figure reduce once it completes its takeover of BMN. They are followed in the ranking by Unicaja, Abanca, Sabadell and Liberbank.

Another finding from the data published as part of the transparency exercise is that Spain’s banks have moved away from those of other peripheral countries (Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Greece) in terms of delinquency.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Tecnocasa: Second-Hand House Prices Rose By 12% In Barcelona In H1

6 September 2017 – Expansión

The Spanish real estate recovery varies by neighbourhood. Whilst in smaller cities such as Zaragoza and Sevilla, second-hand house prices rose by 1.7% and 2.1% during the first half of the year, in Madrid and Barcelona, the value per square metre soared at a rate of 7.3% and 12.7%, respectively. On average, in Spain, second-hand house prices rose by 8.24% during H1, according to the latest report from the estate agent Tecnocasa and the Universidad Pompeu Fabra (UPF).

It is the largest increase registered in a single 6-month period since the price curve hit rock bottom at the end of 2013 and began its recovery with a slight increase of 1.12% at the end of 2014.

At that time, at the height of the real estate depression, the cumulative decrease in second-hand house prices peaked at 57% with respect to 2007. Nowadays, prices are 48.10% below the peaks recorded before the crash. The average value amounted to €3,500/m2 then, compared with €1,811/m2 now.

Despite the dizzying increase in prices currently being seen, there are no signs that a new bubble is being created. The CEO at Tecnocasa, Paolo Boarini, said yesterday that one of the most important factors to take into account is “the new attitude of the banks”. Whilst in 2007, mortgage loans represented 86% of the value of homes on average, that ratio has now decreased to 72%. (…). Moreover, mortgages that exceed the value of the home are no longer being granted, which was not the case during the years leading up to the burst of the bubble.

Tecnocasa’s report points to the ratio between the monthly mortgage instalment and a borrower’s monthly income, which is also one of the most significant risk indicators. To minimise the risk of non-payment, it is recommended that the aforementioned ratio not exceed 35%. At the end of H1 2017, the ratio between the mortgage instalment and the monthly income of mortgage applicants amounted to 25.5%. On average, mortgages in Spain cost around €375 per month (…).

In terms of the bargaining power in the market, according to data from Tecnocasa, the discount made by sellers with respect to the initial price was 2.7% in 2005, a figure that rose to 13.4% in 2012 and that currently stands at around 5.1% (…).

The study performed by Tecnocasa and the UPF is based on data from transactions brokered by the real estate agent itself involving loans advised by Kíron, the financial services company owned by the same group. José García-Montalvo, professor at the UPF and coordinator of the document, stressed that, unlike other reports, this document uses only real prices of actual sales and not the initial asking prices of homes for sale.

The most expensive square metre in Spain’s major cities was located in Barcelona for another half-year, at €2,754/m2, followed by Madrid, at €1,970/m2. The cheapest major cities include Córdoba (€1,009/m2) and Valencia (€893/m2).

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Landlords Demand Revival Of Express Evictions For Rental Homes

6 December 2016 – Cinco Días

The u-turn made by Mariano Rajoy’s first Government regarding housing policy was accompanied by several draft legislative changes. In this way, in 2012 the Ministry of Development decided to stop financing the construction of subsidised homes (VPO) for ownership, to focus instead on boosting the rental sector (Spain is one of the countries with the lowest percentage of households living in rental properties in Europe) and the renovation of homes.

To this end, in 2013, it undertook a comprehensive reform of the Urban Leasing Law (LAU), which provided for the speeding up of the periods for processing evictions, amongst other things, with the aim of making it possible for owners to recover their homes sooner once judges order tenants to leave properties due to non-payment.

Nevertheless, in the opinion of some operators in the sector, the results, more than three years later, are quite disappointing given that the processes that culminate in the eviction of delinquent tenants are still taking between eight and nine months on average. That is now the main concern for many landlords.

“In a market in which demand clearly exceeds supply, the most urgent thing is to provide more legal security for the owners of homes that are susceptible to being rented out and to implement new incentives that favour both landlords and tenants who fulfil all their obligations”, said David Caraballa, Commercial Director at the brokerage company Alquiler Seguro.

In this sense, that company is demanding three specific measures: the approval of new incentives for leasing in the form of IPRF exemptions; the regulation of tourist rentals; and the creation of specific courts to handle cases involving non-payments and evictions.

In the case of tax incentives, Alquiler Seguro explains that during the last legislature, not only were incentives increased to encourage more owners to lease their properties, but also the fiscal pressures that they have to bear have increased, given that some of the benefits that they used to enjoy (such as from leasing homes to people younger than 35 years old) have disappeared. In this regard, they consider that it is very important that these exemptions be recovered and that progress be made in this vein so that leasing a home is attractive from a tax point of view, like acquiring a property used to be.

The second aspect that requires urgent reform, in Alquiler Seguro’s opinion, is the tourist rental sector. “There is a legal vacuum and a disparity in the rules between those autonomous regions that have decided to introduce regulations, which means that we have clients who admit that it is more profitable for them to rent their properties to tourists than as regular homes”, explained Caraballo. In this sense, the firm is in favour of emulating actions such as the one carried out in New York, where the minimum period for renting a tourist flat has now been set at one month.

In terms of the third aspect, Sergio Lusilla, Managing Partner at Pluslegal Abogados, says that although the timeframes for resolving evictions have been reduced (before the reform of the LAU such cases could take more than two years), the current average of 8-9 months could be reduced to just three with an increase in human resources dedicated to the activity.

“I think that a term of three months would be reasonable for both parties. On the one hand, the owner would recover his home without having to wait as long to put it up for rent again, and, on the other hand, it would give social services sufficient time to analyse the case of the tenant who is unable to pay the rent and take a decision in that regard”, said Lusilla.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Raquel Díaz Guijarro)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb’s Expanded Rental Portfolio Now Contains 4,558 Properties

15 November 2016 – Invertia.com

Sareb expanded its portfolio of rental properties during the first half of the year, from 3,831 buildings at the end of 2015 to 4,558 at the end of June 2016.

According to the so-called bad bank’s half year report, 3,900 of the properties are residential assets and 675 are dedicated to tertiary use. (…).

With this boost to its rental strategy, Sareb is looking to increase the value of its rental properties with a view to their possible sale. This would allow it to recover its costs in the case of sub-optimal buildings by exiting from them.

To create this portfolio, Sareb has defined the perimeter of the assets in this category, something which will help the servicers – Altamira, Haya RE, Servihabitat and Solvia – market them for rent and, in some cases, make them attractive for sale.

Avoid defaulted payments

Subsequently, the bad bank conducts a tenant selection process, for rental purposes as well as for sales, with the aim of finding people who will allow them to reduce their defaulted payments to a minimum.

Sareb explains that homogenous selection criteria are applied by all of the servicers to guarantee the rents and, in the event of divestment, an appropriate valuation of the “live” lease contracts.

The so-called bad bank has also identified several housing developments that are pending completion or renovation, andit has approved, or is in the process of analysing, their completion. “The aim is to rent those properties out in order to avoid impairment, cover costs and facilitate their future sale”, says the bank.

During the first six months of the year, Sareb also tried to recover “overdue rents corresponding to valid contracts” with the aim of improving revenues and/or taking over the properties for their subsequent sale.

Original story: Invertia.com

Translation: Carmel Drake

Popular Extends Suspension Period For Home Evictions To Four Years

16 February 2015 – Expansión

Grupo Popular has approved an amendment to increase the suspension period for the eviction of vulnerable people, from two years to four years, and to extend the right to Social Housing Fund access to include those evicted for the non-payment of non-mortgage loans; until now, only those evicted for the non-payment of mortgages were allowed to access social housing properties.

The agreement for the establishment of the Social Housing Fund was signed on 17 January 2013 by the Ministries of the Economy, Health, Development, the Bank of Spain, the Spanish Federation of Towns and Provinces (FEMP), the Platform of the Third Sector, the bankers’ trade association and 33 credit institutions. The rental cost of these homes ranges between €150 and €400 per month.

The following requirements must be fulfilled to access the Fund, amongst others: the family must have been evicted after 1 January 2008; the joint monthly income of the members of the family unit (household) may not exceed a limit of three times the Multiplier for Public Income Index (Indicador Público de Rentas de Efectos Múltiples or IPREM) or €1,597; and the family must not own its own home.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake