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:
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
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
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".
Post a Comment