Mortgage cash starting to flow

THERE were a total of 15,040 new mortgages granted on homes in August at an average value of €102,430.

That was an increase of 5.3 per cent in the value of mortgages given on August 2013, and there was a 31 per cent rise in the total capital loaned  year on year to €1.54 billion.  Both figures are good news from the property market as they show liquidity is starting to flow from banks once more.

In the depths of the banking crisis many prospective home owners found it extremely difficult to finance the purchase of a property as the banks, many bailed out by Spanish and European tax payers, refused to pass on the billions of Euros received on to consumers. Nervous of being more exposed to bad debts after the property bubble burst, they held on to the bailout payments instead to fill black holes in theoir balance sheets.

That meant a second hit to the property market after the crash as even those in steady jobs wanting to buy a house couldn’t raise the money to complete.

According to the  National Institute of Statistics, the number of mortgaes granted rose 23.8 per cent in August compared to the same month in 2013, making it the thuird consequtive quarter of double digit rises following the 19 per cent and 28.8 per cent increases seen in June and July.

Only two regions saw fewer home mortgages in August than in the same month of 2013 – La Rioja (-40.9 per cent) and the Canary Islands (-15.5 per cent).

Everywhere else in the country saw postoive annual rates, led by the Baleares with a massive 83.4 per cent rise.