Janusz

a breather for mortgages: the euribor falls after 2 years of rises
público, saturday 27 oct 07
the rising trend that the euribor has pursued over the last 24 months seems to have come to an end. it closed october at 4.64%, below the heights of august and september and, if forecasts by finance entities like bbva and banco pastor are correct, it is now going to take a downward path that will bring it to 3.9% at the end of 2008. the october fall is a consequence of the international financial crisis that initially caused a vertical leap in the euribor, but is now playing into the hands of people with debts, because it could stop the ecb from raising interest rates as it had intended. the euribor nevertheless remains at its maximum rates, similar to those of november 2000, when official rates stood at 4.25%, above the current 4% figure

deutsche bank augurs a fall in housing prices in Spain of between 2% and 8% in 2008
elconfidencial.com, monday 29 oct 07
the cost of housing in spain will fall between 2% and 8% in 2008 after finishing 2007 with price rises approaching growth in the cpi, according to a report presented by deutsche bank. it indicates that although the government forecasts that growth in housing prices will settle at around the rate of inflation, which currently lies at 2.7%, "there is nothing to guarantee" that this forecast will be fulfilled. this price fall could provoke "anxiety" in the market and accelerate the adjustment process, "especially in an environment of hardening credit conditions," the report underlines. the entity expects this price deceleration will end in 2009 when housing prices will grow, at most, at the inflation level for the period. deutsche bank considers that the spanish real estate market is overvalued by some 30%, and therefore prices may easily fall in response to external factors, amongst which it indicates temporary lost of confidence in the market or because potential buyers prefer to wait to make their purchase
banks impose even stricter conditions for granting mortgages
el mundo, thursday 1 nov 07
the finance markets have still not managed to digest the crisis unleashed in the finance markets by the crash of trash mortgages in the united states and they continue to impose harsher cautionary measures. hence, according to latest bank loan survey published by the bank of spain, since the month of october banks and building societies have been much stricter when it comes to granting mortgages and corporate loans. the survey carried out by the supervisory body anticipates a new increase in the level of requirements made in this last quarter of the year in the approval criteria they apply. said increase derives from the "recent disturbances in the credit markets"

official approvals for new housing projects fell by 12.4% up to august
la gaceta de los negocios, tuesday 30 oct 07
according to information from the ministry of public works, official building approvals for new residential projects reached a figure of 482,789 units in the first eight months of the year, which represents a drop of 12.4% over the same period 2006. this fall is largely due to the smaller number of approvals awarded by the chartered institute of architects for single family homes, which reported a decrease of 36.5% (73,790 units). as regards family housing in apartment blocks, approvals fell by 6%, reaching a figure of 408,765 units

uncertain future for the british real estate market
financial times, monday 29 oct 07
the 15-year economic bonanza the uk has been experiencing has been due to unprecedented credit facilities and a longer than normal real estate orgy. according to daniel gros, director of the european political surveys centre in brussels, housing cycles are very long, even long enough for rational people to form irrational expectations. the boom was also sustained by the irrational belief that prices would always continue growing in real terms. the fall is being driven but the same process, but in reverse - expensive money, credit restriction and an equally irrational belief on how far prices may fall. the real estate bubble is not just a british problem. there are also bubbles in spain and ireland, although unlike the uk, both countries have been continually reporting solid tax surpluses, and they are in a better position to compensate the future real estate fall. for the uk in particular, the coming years are going to be rather difficult

the debt figure for spanish families is approaching the gdp
el paÃ*s, monday 29 oct 07
with a growth of 15.7% in the second quarter of the year over the same period in 2006, family debt is, for the first time, approaching the 900,000 million euro figure, almost the level of the spanish gdp (just over one billion euro) according to information published by the bank of spain. despite this growth, there has been a deceleration of almost two points over the first quarter and of over three points with respect to 2006. this gradual deceleration is largely due to rises in interest rates and lower housing price rises - spaniards are taking out fewer loans and for lower amounts

rato asks that a lesson be learned from the mortgage crisis
el mundo, friday 2 nov 07
rodrigo rato, former director general of the international monetary fund, has asked public powers to protect the consumer from "the lack of information" concerning housing purchases. in his opinion, homes have been sold with highly attractive initial finance conditions, "without explaining the consequences that that was going to bring years later"

the public rental company doubles its activity due to the slow-down in sales
el economista, tuesday 30 oct 07
the spanish public property lets company (spanish initials, spa) seems to be beginning to take off. since the beginning of the year, this body, which depends on the ministry of housing, has seen how the number of homes put up for rent has doubled compared with the previous tax year. the number of contracts currently exceeds 2,600, and this is 81% above the cumulative figure for the first nine months of 2006. from the ministry of housing it has been stated that "a significant increase is being recorded in the submission of homes for assessment" and it all seems to indicate that the progression is going to continue, because several real estate developers have offered homes to the spa for lets, because they cannot sell them on the market

And finally something different …
22ST MALAGA INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL / 22 FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE JAZZ DE M�LAGA
the international jazz festival just started in Malaga. Do not worry if you miss it. You can see short videos of the concerts available on TVSpain / www.tvspain.tv next day after each performance: Tuesday 06.11.07 - HARRY CONNICK Jr., Wednesday 07.11.07 -RICHARD BONA, Saturday 10.11.07 - RUFUS WAINWRIGHT, Sunday 11.10.07 - THE JOHN SCOFIELD TRIO plus HORNS "This meets that". Enjoy it.