{"id":362,"date":"2009-05-20T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-20T00:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/blog\/?p=362"},"modified":"2009-05-20T00:01:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-20T00:01:00","slug":"repossessions-y-embargos-the-final-countdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clusterfamilyoffice.com\/en\/repossessions-y-embargos-the-final-countdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Repossessions and Seizures: The Final Countdown."},"content":{"rendered":"
The figures are soaring and the news has broken<\/a> in the headlines. 66,000 families have already lost their homes in the UK since the credit crunch<\/span> took place in the summer of 2007. The forecast for 2009 is that 75,000 homes will be repossessed by creditors, bringing the total to 125,000 over two and a half years. But the most worrying aspect is not the cumulative figure to date, but rather its upward trend: between January and March this year, the figure rose by more than 50% compared with the first quarter of 2008. And currently, 150 families are losing their homes every day, seven days a week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This alarming trend has led the UK to draw up a protocol requiring lenders (financial institutions) to demonstrate that they have explored all alternatives to keep borrowers in their homes before proceeding with evictions.<\/p>\n

It seems that a second wave of repossessions is looming over the UK, just as it has in the US. The question we must ask ourselves is: What will happen to Spain\u2019s bloated mortgage market against a backdrop of record (Western) unemployment? It is easy to guess the answer (though not for everyone<\/a>): We will see a very serious social impact, and the much-vaunted strength of the Spanish banking sector will be laid bare. When? Soon, very soon. And the a flood of properties <\/a>The market that the banks are already starting to create, combined with the desperate sales by those trying to avoid repossession, will be just the beginning of the real price collapse that we have yet to see.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Meanwhile, absurd measures are being taken such as this one<\/a>, which will be impossible to fulfil in 2011. For in two years\u2019 time the situation will be so precarious that the current tax breaks will not only be impossible to abolish but will have to be increased to the extent that the Spanish state\u2019s bankruptcy allows. The only way to avoid such a bankruptcy is for wealthy Europe to support poorer Europe, or else the traditional measures adopted by those states whose economies are far less competitive than those of their neighbours will have to be implemented. But that would merit a lengthy article, which it is not appropriate to write in the countdown is in full swing<\/a>. The fact is that this measure is just as absurd as saying that in two years\u2019 time it will be much more expensive to take on staff, and expecting that to reduce the current level of unemployment. Unbelievable.<\/p>\n