Recent reports that sales in the Spanish property market had finally turned, year on year, were followed up today by the news that mortgage lending has increased in February, year on year, for the first time in 3 years.
No indication as to the breakdown of the type of lending that is involved, all I know is that we aren't seeing much of an unfreeze in the non-residents and holiday home market.
I guess that should be expected really, that the Spanish banks will return to lending to the Spanish Nationals first, as they can find out more information about them, and understand more about their employment and lifestyles.
But, surely the unemployment rate, that is expected to tip over the 20% level soon, is going to have a big impact on the population's ability to borrow and repay home loans ?
As the signs of improvement continue in the UK, albeit slowly, then the Spanish banks will be aware of this, and hopefully they will again make it easier for UK borrowers to get mortgages and refinance in Spain.
Nobody wants a return to the bad old days of dodgy lending practices, with little paperwork and over inflated valuations, all designed to help bank managers to meet their targets and bonuses.
Let's hope the upturn allows us to return to offering a sensible level of lending to fundamentally sound clients.
Thanks for reading
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
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