Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is on a clean-up mission to try to put his country’s mortgage market back on track – according to EyeonSpain.
The Spanish government is, for example, forcing takeovers and mergers to accelerate the change. Banco Sabadell acquired CAM bank for 1 euro in December 2011 and BBVA acquired Unnim bank for the same price this month.
Whilst Spain didn’t have official subprime mortgages in the same manner as the United States, throughout the late 2000s it did fall victim to unrealistic mortgages being handed out by greedy banks with the help of unscrupulous mortgage advisers, real estate agents, lawyers, surveyors, valuers and accountants.
The consequence today is banks having to repossess a significant number of homes making them huge real estate owners and putting a strain on their balance sheets, particularly as Rajoy is asking banks to make additional provisions.
Source: http://www.eyeonspain.com/blogs/realestate/6816/all-change-in-the-spanish-property-lending-market.aspx