Friday, May 25, 2012

Spanish House Prices


Following up on discussion of Greek house prices the other day, I found some data on Spanish house prices from Spanish surveyors Tinsa.  The picture is similar to Greece - if anything a bit worse.  Total losses from the peak have been about one third, and the situation has not stabilized.  In fact as the year-on-year change below show, prices losses have recently accelerated:


This obviously is going to worsen the position of Spanish banks (which are already suffering from moderate capital flight).

3 comments:

ColdNorth said...

Edward Hugh at AFOE has some excellent analyses of the economic situation in Spain. He covered the housing prices, and Bankia in a post this week: http://fistfulofeuros.net/afoe/its-time-to-stop-using-chewing-gum-and-chicken-wire-in-spain/#more-9609.

The high and increasing Spanish unemployment rate is particularly troubling.

Bert

Alexander Ac said...

Mike Shedlock has more with Spain's Bankrupt Catalonia Region "Running Out of Options" to Refinance €13 Billion; Total Regional Needs are €50.7 Billion; Regions Want "Open Bar" with Central Bank Guarantees

and the solution is Bankruptcy, default, and an exit of the eurozone coupled with work-rule and pension reform.

Alex

James said...

I can't find the reference, but I have read that judging by standard bubble measures (e.g., price/rent ratios) - Spain's housing bubble is still *higher* that the U.S.'s bubble at it's peak. I actually find this credible given the Spanish banks' and government's fondness for "extend and pretend".