Foreclosures to spiral in Spain

Madrid: The number of foreclosed homes for sale in Spain may triple next year as new accounting rules prompt lenders to dump their depreciating assets, according to the co-founder of a website that advertises repossessed properties.

About 100,000 houses and apartments owned by banks are now on the market, Fernando Acuna said in an interview. A quarter of them are listed on the website operated by his Madrid-based company, Pisos Embargados de Bancos, on behalf of 25 banks.

Spanish lenders have a total of €181 billion in “troubled” construction and real estate loans, the Bank of Spain said last month.