Spanish lending surges more than 50pc

Photo: Eduardo

Banco Sabadell's mortgage lending soared 54 per cent in the second quarter of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.

As a result, net profit jumped 20 per cent from €72.3 million to €86.5 million for the country's fifth-largest lender.

"At smaller Bankinter, NII also grew 18 percent from a year ago, to 185 million euros," reports Reuters.

"We are going to continue to see growth” in mortgage issuance, Sabadell Chief Executive Jaime Guardiola told The Wall Street Journal. "The annual increase is going to be very big percentage-wise because we are starting from such a low base."

At most, Guardiola expects mortgage volumes this year to reach 60 per cent of the boom years. Nontheless, the figures are a cautious cause of optimism for the Spanish property industry.