mortgage

The number of mortgages on homes in Catalonia registered a 32.4% increase in February compared to the same figure from February 2014. This annual increase strengthens an uninterrupted trend of 10 consecutive months of annual growth. This figure is particularly important taking into account that the crash of the construction and real estate sectors, as well as the lack of bank loans, were some of the main elements of the double economic crisis that affected Catalonia and the rest of Spain between 2008 and 2014. The recovery of the mortgage market is yet another indicator of a broader recovery of the real estate market and the overall economy, although its effects on some aspects of people's lives will still need time to be noticed, such as in the reduction of the high levels of unemployment.

The coalition will be led by the social activist Ada Colau, former spokeswoman of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), a Spanish grassroots organisation that helped citizens to stop evictions, promoted housing rights and in 2013 was awarded the European’s Citizens Prize. The local left-wing front will be mainly formed by the Catalan Green Socialist and post-Communist coalition ICV-EUiA and several parties campaigning for a re-launching of democracy, such as the Socialist and pro-Catalan independence Procés Constituent and the Spanish far-left party aimed at breaking the bipartisan political model Podemos. However, the main Catalan pro-independence far-left party CUP is working on a separate candidature for the same local elections that will take place on the 24^th of May.  

The 18^th Edition of the Barcelona Meeting Point will take place between 29 October and 2 November in Fira de Barcelona's Montjuic venue. The trade fair is a real estate exhibition that brings together buyers and sellers to network and learn about the latest industry trends. This year there will be 265 participating companies from 23 countries. According to the show’s President, Enric Lacalle, it will be the first edition to open in a recovering housing sector, after 6 years of crisis and setbacks. The real estate market is strengthening; there was a 36.6% increase in the acquisition of houses by foreigners in 2013 and a 12.5% rise in housing sales throughout Spain. In addition, real estate investment in Barcelona is expected to exceed €1.6 billion in 2014, 30% more than last year. In fact, 21 international investment funds will participate in the trade fair. The show will also include a series of talks and presentations, and offer financing options for property purchase.

The Catalan Government approved on Tuesday a measure to impose a tax on empty flats owned by financial institutions. The aim of the tax is to incentivise banks to rent out the empty homes. Santi Vila, the Catalan Minister for Planning and Sustainability, said that the "mere announcement" of the tax has already caused Sareb [Spain's public 'bad bank'], Catalunya Caixa and Bankia to yield to the Government 1,230 apartments for social rent. During the press conference after the weekly Cabinet meeting, Vila pointed out that the new tax will not apply to individuals and will only be intended for flats that have been taken out of the market for more than two years. The Minister also said that the measure is not simply about "tax collection" but is instead to ease the access to housing market in the midst of a housing crisis.

The Court based in Strasbourg has answered the appeal of the lawyer representing the Mortgage Platform (PAH), which had occupied an entire apartment block in Salt, near the Catalan city of Girona. 16 families occupied the block in order to get a house, but 3 left fearing eviction. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has temporarily delayed the eviction of the entire apartment block as a precautionary measure until it has fully studied the case, arguing that evicting the families would go against international law on housing rights. The ECHR has given the Spanish Government 8 days to prove it has adopted the measures to guarantee such rights. The decision comes the day the eviction was planned. Families and a thousand supporters received the news crying of joy and shouting the PAH’s motto: “Yes, it can be done; yes, it can be done”.

The increase is the highest one registered in Catalonia over the last year. 3,751 home mortgage contracts were signed in January. At the end of 2012, the fiscal benefits for purchasing houses were diminishing and were non-existent by January. Despite this fact, there was a peak in the number of mortgage loans taken out. For the whole of Spain, the number of mortgage loan contracts signed in January reached 25,447, a 44.7% increase in relation to December last year. This is the highest increase since January 2007. Furthermore, the average price of the mortgages signed in January in Catalonia reached €110,418. In year-over-year terms, the number of mortgages signed in Catalonia in January 2013 was 18.58% lower than those signed in January 2012.

Catalan first instance courts ordered 25,422 evictions last year, representing 25.1% of the total number in Spain. Two weeks ago the European Court of Justice declared the Spanish Mortgage Law to be abusive towards citizens. Home evictions have increasingly become a social drama in Catalonia and in the whole of Spain, particularly over the last two years, as the crisis became harsher. In 2009, a platform to unite people affected by house evictions was created in Barcelona and it has managed to stop hundreds of cases throughout Catalonia and Spain.

The Popular Legislative Initiative promoted by the Platform is pending debate in the Spanish Parliament. The Mortgage Platform was founded in Barcelona in 2009. Over recent years, it has worked intensively to prevent and ultimately stop people from being evicted from their own homes. Subprime mortgages, very common during the first decade of this century, were one of the main consequences of the property bubble in Spain and have resulted in more than 400,000 foreclosures in the whole of Spain since 2007. This situation is aggravated due to the economic crisis, which increases social inequality and has placed evictions among the first concerns on the political agenda.

The Spanish Vice President for Economy Elena Salgado refused the idea proposed by three Catalan parties to allow mortgage holders end their debt by returning their house to the bank. This measure already exists in the US and other countries. In Spain, a country with a high unemployment rate, many people are not able to afford to pay their mortgage. However, at the moment, debt does not disappear when banks execute mortgages and take away the house. Salgado wants to keep the current system in order not to harm the banks and thus the recovery, but at a high social price.

Economic crisis is hitting some families unmercifully. 40,000 families that could not pay back their mortgage have lost their homes, according to a study made by the General Workers’ Union (UGT) and a consumers association presented today. A judicial procedure that permits banks and savings banks to survey homes and put them up for auction for 50% of their value is putting thousands of families in the risk of social exclusion.