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发帖数: 10425 | 1 ..Spain: Residency for foreigners who buy houses
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MADRID (AP) -- Looking for a new place to call home? Spain is hoping to give
you a little bit more than a welcome basket of baked goods if you decide to
move there. In an attempt to reduce the country's bloated stock of unsold
homes, the government is set to offer permanent residency to any foreigner
provided they buy a house or apartment worth more than 60,000 ($200,000).
The plan, unveiled by Trade Ministry secretary Jaime Garcia-Legaz Monday and
expected to be approved in the coming weeks, would be aimed principally at
Chinese and Russian buyers. Spain has more than 700,000 unsold houses
following the collapse of its real estate market in 2008 and demand from the
recession-hit domestic market is stagnant.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy stressed Monday that the plan has not yet been
finalized, but added that Spain "needs to sell these homes" and that getting
them off the market could help revive the nation's devastated construction
industry.
The plan to unload the unsold homes comes as thousands of houses have been
repossessed by banks and their owners evicted because they cannot pay their
mortgages. The government last week approved a decree under which evictions
would be suspended for two years in specific cases of extreme need.
The country's residency offer would beat others in bailed-out countries such
as Ireland and Portugal, where residency papers are offered to foreigners
buying houses worth more than 00,000 and 00,000, respectively. However,
Latvia on the Baltic coast offers a cheaper deal, with property buyers
eligible to receive residency permits if they purchase real estate in the
capital Riga worth 40,000 or 0,000 in the countryside.
Spain is in the midst of a double-dip recession with 25 percent unemployment
, though Rajoy said he believes Spain has managed to avoid a financial
implosion and will start growing again in late 2013 and in 2014.
"I'm convinced that the worst is over," Rajoy told reporters after meeting
with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.
The stricken state of the country's real estate market was highlighted
Monday by figures from the Bank of Spain which showed that the level of bad
debt in the country's banks had risen to a record 10.7 percent of their loan
total in September.
The bank said the amount totaled 82 billion, up from 79 billion in
August — the 15th monthly increase in a row.
The 16 other countries that use the euro have agreed to lend Spain up to
00 billion to help support the country's banks weighed down by these bad
loans and investments. On top of the bank loan, Spain has been under
pressure to apply for more outside financial aid to help it manage its debt
and deficit. The European Central Bank has insisted on the move before it
will make good on its pledge to buy the bonds of certain troubled countries
to help lower their borrowing costs.
Spain says it is waiting to know all the conditions that might come attached
to the rescue package before making a decision. | T********e
发帖数: 8631 | 2 Cool, do you know someone who know a little about Spain? | m*******y
发帖数: 14292 | |
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