Sale of Santander properties 'unlikely to affect wider market values'

The value of Spanish properties is unlikely to be affected by Banco Santander's attempts to offload a sizable portion of its real estate assets.

In an article on PropertyInSpain.net, sales manager for the firm Ben Walker commented that any deal between Santander and overseas investors will have "zero effect on property prices in Spain".

He noted that many people currently considering purchasing a home in the country are doing so for lifestyle reasons, rather than as a pure investment.

"Today there are more lifestyle buyers than investors, but there are still huge numbers of properties on the market that keep the prices at a record low level," Mr Walker explained.

Last month, Dow Jones Newswires cited a report by Spanish publication Expansion, which revealed that Santander was in negotiations with two private equity funds about the sale of some of its real estate portfolio.

However, a source with knowledge of the deal claimed that the highest bid offered at that point was €1.3 billion (£1.1 billion) - far short of the €3 billion the bank hopes to achieve by selling off these assets.
 

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