TOP
STORIES:
Spain Foreclosures Spread to Once Wealthy: Mortgages - (www.bloomberg.com) Home foreclosures in Spain,
which disproportionately affected lower-income immigrants after the real estate
bubble burst, are spreading to formerly well-to-do families and businessmen as
they run out of ways to pay mortgages in a deepening recession. Spanish
business people, upper middle class families and their loan guarantors,
typically parents of first-time buyers, now account for 60 percent of
foreclosures in Madrid, according to AFES, an association
that advises homeowners facing repossession. Three years ago, 80 percent of
foreclosures were on the homes of immigrants, usually the first to lose jobs
and fall behind on loan payments in a souring economy. They now comprise 40
percent of the total, according to AFES. “Repossessions
are encroaching further into the city centers, like an overflowing river,” said
Emilio Miravet, head of real estate finance at the Spanish property unit of
advisory and investment firm Catella AB.
Germany faces image problem in Greece, thanks to its growing
clout - (www.washingtonpost.com)
Amid a massive security
operation that locked down much of this ancient capital, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on
Tuesday staged a gutsy foray into the heart of Europe’s debt crisis. If her
protest-plagued trip shined a spotlight on struggling Greece, it also
highlighted a problem for a resurgent Germany: its image. As Europe’s largest
and healthiest economy, Germany has risen to the height of its post-World War
II power over the past three years, effectively serving as the region’s
paymaster through a series of debt-crisis bailouts. As Germany has led demands
for harsh cuts in exchange for cash, Merkel has emerged as Europe’s symbol of
austerity. A country keenly attuned to any perception of itself as aggressor,
Germany witnessed the price of its rising clout Tuesday as 7,000 police
officers sought to contain tens of thousands of chanting demonstrators who at
least partly blame Berlin for Greece’s economic nightmare of soaring
unemployment and cascading bankruptcies.
Rajoy’s Deepening Budget Black Hole Outpaces Spain’s Cuts -
(www.bloomberg.com) The black hole in Spain’s budget has expanded faster than Prime
Minister Mariano Rajoy’s attempt to shrink it, portending the same unrest
roiling Greece. The harshest austerity since the return to democracy in 1978
has failed to contain the deficit as the economy sinks deeper into recession.
The shortfall increased in the first half of the year, as it did in the
previous 12 months. Even after a sales-tax increase and health-care cuts kick
in this quarter, it may still approach last year’s 9.4 percent of gross
domestic product, said Ignacio Conde-Ruiz, an economist at the independent Applied
Economic Research Foundation in Madrid. The fiscal and
political consequences of demanding austerity in a shrinking economy highlight
the dilemma facing Rajoy. To trigger a European financial lifeline, he may have
to impose yet more cuts, repeating the pattern seen in Greece, Portugal and
Ireland.
Greece's debt nightmare just got worse - (www.jasmts.com) German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered words
of support for her counterpart, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens
on Tuesday, even as new data showed Greece's debt situation was worsening and
as two former Greek government ministers told CNBC, international lenders would
have to restructure its debts yet again. "I think
that recently the pace of reform has picked up considerably," Merkel said
on her first visit to Greece since the debt crisis erupted here in 2009. Seven
thousand police officers and rooftop snipers and commandos were in
place to provide protection for the German leader. Thousands of protestors
streamed into Syntagma square despite a ban on
protests and a security lock down. TV pictures showed protestors dressed as
Nazi soldiers holding Nazi flags, while other protestors threw rocks at police
who fired tear gas.
Oakland
aims to prevent foreclosures - (www.sfgate.com)
Like other homeowners in his East Oakland neighborhood, Manuel De Paz is underwater on his
house and behind on his payments. His attempts to get a loan modification from
his bank were frustrating and fruitless, he said. De Paz, 45, who provides
social services to immigrants and refugees at a Berkeley church, hopes that a new Oakland
initiative to prevent foreclosures will help him persuade the bank to make his
mortgage more affordable. "I think we needed this a long time ago and very
badly," he said. Oakland, one of the Bay Area cities hardest hit by
the foreclosure crisis, plans to roll out details Tuesday of its
"Comprehensive Foreclosure Prevention and Mitigation Plan," which
takes a multipronged approach to assist struggling homeowners and tenants in
foreclosed homes.
No comments:
Post a Comment