Recent housing market developments in Spain

Artículo de revistaAfter the sharp correction during the crisis, activity in the Spanish real estate sector commenced its recovery in early 2014. This improving trend has since been observable both in quantity and price-based indicators. However, this market is well known for its high heterogeneity due to the location of the properties, their type and the nationality of purchasers. The recent buoyancy seems to reflect, among other factors, positive labour market developments and the low cost of borrowing against a backdrop of gradual growth of loans for house purchas

The accrual and use of the excess savings built up by Spanish households since the onset of the pandemic

Rationale Households overall built up a large stock of excess savings during the pandemic. The use of these excess savings and the potential amount currently available for spending are relevant to understanding how they may support consumption over the coming quarters. Takeaways •To end-2022, households had barely used the excess savings accumulated during the pandemic for purchases of consumer goods and services. The bulk of these funds have been channelled towards financial investments, specifically deposits and investment funds. •A more modest proportion of these savings – albeit one that has been increasing since 2021 – has been used to purchase non-financial assets (in particular, property) and to repay home loans. •A large share of the excess savings accumulated during the health crisis is concentrated among higher-income households, to such an extent that households in the bottom income quintile barely increased their savings in this period

Recent developments in financing and bank lending to the non-financial private sector: first half of 2022

Artículo de revistaIn 2022 to date there has been a tightening of financing conditions for firms and households, with a strong rise in the cost of corporate debt issuance and a contraction in the supply of loans. However, the pass-through of market interest rates to bank lending interest rates appears to be somewhat slower than in other historical bouts of interest rate hikes. Against this backdrop, the flow of new funding raised by households and firms and their outstanding debt have increased moderately or remained stable. Lending by deposit institutions (DIs) for non-financial business activities declined in 2022 Q1, more than offsetting the increase in the balance of loans for house purchase, while in April and May their joint performance was moderately expansionary. Since early 2022 and despite the worsening of the macro-financial environment, the credit quality of the DIs’ portfolio has continued to improve in general, except in the case of financing allocated to the sectors most affected by the pandemic, as well as in Official Credit Institute (ICO)-backed loans as a whole. The materialisation of adverse macro-financial scenarios might lead to less buoyancy in the volume of bank lending and the deterioration of its quality in the coming quarters

Recent developments in financing and bank lending to the non-financial private sector. 3rd quarter of 2021

Artículo de revistaIn recent months, financing conditions for non-financial corporations and households have remained very favourable, while demand for credit has lost momentum. In this setting, the flow of new financing raised by these two institutional sectors and their outstanding debt have slowed down. Indeed, the volume of loans granted by deposit institutions to the resident private sector has declined slightly between June and September 2021, with no significant changes in credit quality over the quarter. The sectors of activity most affected by the health crisis have not shown any notable changes in 2021 Q3 in terms of volume and credit quality, although they continue to post the highest cumulative growth in bank debt, non-performing loans and Stage 2 loans since the start of the pandemic. The rise in the volume of credit since the onset of the heath crisis has helped to sustain banks’ interest income, but has failed to offset the negative price effects of the widespread decline in interest rates

Evolución reciente del mercado de la vivienda en España

Artículo de revistaTras la intensa corrección registrada durante la crisis, la actividad del sector inmobiliario en España inició su recuperación a comienzos de 2014. Desde entonces, esta tendencia de mejora se ha observado en los indicadores tanto de cantidades como de precios. No obstante, hay que tener en cuenta que este mercado se distingue por una elevada heterogeneidad por la localización de los inmuebles, por el tipo de vivienda y por la nacionalidad de los compradores. El dinamismo reciente estaría reflejando, entre otros factores, la positiva evolución del mercado de trabajo, los reducidos costes de financiación en un contexto de crecimiento gradual de las nuevas operaciones de crédito destinado a la adquisición de vivienda

Corporate financing in fixed-income markets: the contribution of monetary policy to lowering the size barrier

El acceso a la financiación en los mercados de renta fija por parte de las empresas facilita la diversificación de sus fuentes de financiación y las expone a una menor vulnerabilidad, particularmente en momentos en los que se producen restricciones en el acceso al crédito bancario. En este documento se analizan los factores que explican el recurso de las empresas a la financiación en los mercados de capitales haciendo uso de la base de datos ERICA, que contiene información detallada sobre los balances de los principales grupos no financieros cotizados en los países de la Unión Económica y Monetaria. Los resultados muestran que el tamaño es el factor que explica en mayor medida el recurso a esta fuente de financiación. De acuerdo con los resultados de este trabajo, el establecimiento del programa de compras de bonos corporativos por parte del Banco Central Europeo, en 2016, habría contribuido a mejorar el acceso a los mercados de capitales de las empresas cotizadas más pequeñas. A pesar de ello, el tamaño sigue siendo una barrera clave en el acceso a los mercados de capitales. La implementación de otras iniciativas más estructurales, como la unión de los mercados de capitales, podría suponer nuevos avances para seguir reduciendo estas barreras de acceso a la financiación externa.Access to financing in fixed-income markets enables firms to diversify their sources of financing and reduces their vulnerability, particularly in periods when access to bank credit is restricted. This paper analyses the factors explaining firms’ recourse to capital market financing using the ERICA database, which contains detailed information on the balance sheets of the main non-financial groups listed in euro area countries. The results show that size is the most important determinant of recourse to this source of financing. According to the results of this paper, the introduction of the corporate sector purchase programme by the European Central Bank in 2016 appears to have contributed to improving capital market access for smaller listed firms. Nonetheless, size continues to be a key barrier to capital market access. Implementation of other more structural initiatives, such as the capital markets union, could help to further reduce these barriers to access to external financing

La evolución y el destino del ahorro extraordinario acumulado por los hogares españoles desde el inicio de la pandemia

Motivación Los hogares en su conjunto acumularon una elevada bolsa de ahorro extraordinario durante la pandemia. El destino dado a esos fondos y la cuantía potencialmente disponible para el gasto en la actualidad resultan relevantes de cara a evaluar el soporte que este ahorro extraordinario puede proporcionar al consumo en los próximos trimestres. Ideas principales •Hasta el cierre de 2022, los hogares apenas han recurrido al ahorro extraordinario acumulado durante la pandemia para adquirir bienes y servicios de consumo. El grueso de estos recursos se ha destinado a la inversión financiera; en concreto, a depósitos y a fondos de inversión. •Una proporción más modesta, pero creciente desde 2021, de dicho ahorro se ha destinado a la adquisición de activos no financieros (en particular, inmuebles) y a la amortización de préstamos para vivienda. •Los hogares con mayores ingresos concentran una proporción elevada del ahorro extraordinario acumulado durante la crisis sanitaria. Tanto es así que el quintil de hogares con menores rentas apenas elevó su ahorro en este período

The balance of payments and international investment position of Spain in 2020

Artículo de revistaIn 2020, the Spanish economy recorded net lending of 1.1% of GDP, significantly below the previous year’s level of 2.5%. This decline essentially reflects the impact of the health crisis on travel credits, which contracted sharply, owing to the restrictions on international mobility and on activity in accommodation and food and travel services to contain the pandemic. The widening of the secondary income deficit also contributed to the decline in net lending, albeit to a much lesser extent. These developments offset the improvement in the other components, which was particularly notable in the goods and primary income balances. Cross-border financial transactions were strongly influenced by the increase in the volume of Eurosystem asset purchases, as reflected by a large surplus on the financial account of resident sectors, excluding the Banco de España. By contrast, the financial transactions of the Banco de España with the rest of the world showed a large increase in its liabilities. Spain’s negative net international investment position increased to 84.3% of GDP, essentially as a result of the sharp fall in GDP and the decline in the value of external financial assets owing to the appreciation of the euro. Finally, in terms of GDP, the nation’s gross external debt stood at all-time highs (199.4%) owing to the contraction in economic activity and the assumption of new liabilities, in particular by the Banco de España, given the increase in its positions vis-à-vis the Eurosystem as a result of the implementation of the asset purchase programmes

The Balance of Payments and International Investment Position of Spain in 2021

Artículo de revistaOn balance of payments statistics, in 2021 Spain’s net lending amounted to 1.8% of GDP (1.2% in 2020). This increase mainly reflected the partial recovery in the travel surplus, thanks to the improvement in the epidemiological situation prompted by the headway in vaccination, and the widening of the capital account surplus, boosted by the credits corresponding to Next Generation EU. This countered the deterioration in the goods deficit, against the backdrop of the rising energy bill. Meanwhile, Spain’s negative net international investment position decreased significantly (to 70.4% of GDP, its lowest level since 2006), thanks to the positive financial transactions with the rest of the world and, to a greater degree, GDP growth and the increase in value of external financial assets. Conversely, Spain’s gross external debt reached another all-time high (€2,329 billion) due to the assumption of new liabilities, particularly by general government and the Banco de España. However, it fell as a percentage of GDP thanks to economic growth

The balance of payments and international investment position of Spain in 2018

Artículo de revistaAccording to the balance of payments (BoP) statistics, in an environment of ongoing economic upturn, Spain was once again a net lender in 2018, albeit to a lesser extent than in preceding years. The decline in net lending is explained by the decrease in the goods and services surplus, which largely reflected the slowdown in external markets, the negative impact on exports of the cumulative euro appreciation since 2017 and the rise in oil prices. The nation’s net lending, the positive amount of other flows and GDP growth were conducive to a decline in the Spanish economy’s negative net international investment position (IIP), as a percentage of GDP, for the fourth year in succession. In terms of financial flows, international investors made net purchases under the portfolio investment (mainly, long-term bonds issued by general government) and direct investment headings in 2018, a sign of their continuing confidence in the Spanish economy, despite the deterioration in the global macro-financial scenario in the second half of the year. However, the fact that the Spanish economy’s negative net IIP remains high (77.1% of GDP), both historically and by international standards, makes it vulnerable to shocks in the international capital market