Housing

BBVA in Colombia granted 3.8 billion pesos in sustainable lending between January and August 2023, with $2.4 billion going to inclusive growth projects and $1.4 billion for climate action pursuits. These figures are already up on last year’s total figure and 66% higher than in August 2022.

Months ago, BBVA USA Head of Mortgage Murat Kalkan spoke on a variety of topics regarding the mortgage sector - and in part spoke about millennials and their changing patterns toward homeownership.

Good financial health is a growing and serious concern. Individuals who exhibit financial vulnerability may spread negative effects to their households, compromising their well-being. It is therefore critical to understand financial health and the extent to which it can contribute to improved financial resilience. According to a recent report by BBVA Research, digitalization and financial education are key elements to be included in any public or private measures intended to help improve individual financial resilience.

Homeownership has always been a part of the American dream. All you have to do is work hard, and you can get your piece of the economic pie. We're a country built on the promise of social mobility, and for many Americans, owning a home means you made it to the top.

BBVA continues making headway in its strategy to cut down its real estate exposure. BBVA has reached an agreement to sell its 25.24 percent stake in Testa to Blackstone for a total of €478 million.

A responsible urban development, designed by and for the citizens,  that places people at its heart. A consensus project, in which all sides have worked and collaborated so that Madrid projects an image of the 21st century.

BBVA Compass assembled Albuquerque leaders Thursday to celebrate the bank’s $2.8 million in equity equivalent investments in Homewise and the New Mexico Community Development Loan Fund, two organizations dedicated to creating opportunities for low- to moderate-income families in the city.

The “proptech” companies and the most innovative financial institutions are already offering services that improve the customer experience in the real estate sector.

When it comes to how much home you can afford, the answer is not always as cut and dried as the pre-qualification you receive from your lender, says BBVA Compass Director of Real Estate Originations Jose Pascual.

Pascual says that lenders do their best with what they’re given in order to pre-qualify customers for an affordable amount, but there are considerations outside their purview that borrowers should also consider.

Deciding to buy a home ranks among the biggest decisions a person can make, which is why it’s wise to go into the process with eyes wide open to your unique financial situation. Doing so will help ensure that before pen hits paper on the loan application, the approval that will get you the house of your dreams is in the proverbial bag.

There are a few steps anyone looking to get a home loan - aka mortgage - can take before application in order to be sure that they are best positioned for approval.

After Tropical Storm Allison drenched Houston and caused billions of dollars in damages in 2001, Harris County spent tens of millions of federal dollars to redraw its floodplain maps to more accurately reflect the risks. Now, 16 years later, after Hurricane Harvey left some homes flooded for the third time in as many years, those same maps are in the crosshairs.

A complete picture of the damage wrought by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma is still coming into focus, but what is clear is that among the hardest hit are homeowners.

For these homeowners, many without flood insurance, starting the rebuilding process can be an overwhelming task, and just knowing where to begin to get the money needed to rebuild may seem complicated. According to BBVA Compass Insurance Agency Managing Director Analicia Geisen, a good place to start is with the homeowner’s insurance company.

Urbanization in Latin America began to increase in the second half of the 20th Century, to reach nearly 80% of the population today. In spite of the great expansion in recent decades, BBVA Research predicts that there will be a certain moderation in this growth, until it reaches 86%.

The agreement reached with Metrovacesa Suelo y Promoción (hereinafter Metrovacesa S.A), in which BBVA holds a stake, represents a significant step forward in the bank’s real estate strategy.  BBVA participated in a non-monetary capital increase, together with the other shareholders, through which the bank will transfer high-potential land holdings intended for housing developments valued at €431 million.

Low- to moderate-income seniors have a new place to call home in Huntsville, Ala., after the grand opening on June 15 of Lenox Park Apartments, a 60-unit development financed by BBVA Compass.

Halfway into its five-year, $11 billion commitment to serving low- to moderate-income communities, BBVA Compass has made tens of thousands of pinpoint investments and loans that have changed lives and created opportunities.

BBVA Compass shored up its commitment to alleviating Colorado’s affordable-housing crisis, closing a $1.8 million equity equivalent investment this month in the Mile High Community Loan Fund so that the organization can continue to give affordable-housing developers access to the capital they need.

One of the first projects BBVA Compass pursued after the bank made its $11 billion commitment to low- to moderate-income communities in late 2014 has come online and put 128 low-income Austin families in green homes zoned to some of the area’s best schools.

Users of the Catalonia-based platform exchange their homes, a service they can access by invitation only, and in which money is not the important thing. The only requirement is to have a creative home.

BBVA Compass’ investment in a newly constructed affordable housing project in Fort Worth was held up as a model of public and private cooperation last week during a VIP tour of the facility.

BBVA Compass is relying on a variety of vehicles -- including $16.3 million in federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit equity, a $17.2 million construction loan, $5.7 million in permanent debt, $1.2 million from the City of Fort Worth and $700,000 from the City of Fort Worth Housing Finance Corporation -- to finance the 140-unit development known as Columbia at Renaissance Square.

BBVA’s strategy to curb its exposure in the real estate market continues to bear fruit. The Group announced the sale of a 14 office-building portfolio in Spain, codenamed Project Boston.

BBVA’s current strategy to accelerate the sale of the Spanish real estate assets has resulted in the first wholesale transaction of 2017. BBVA’s portfolio consists of almost 3,500 units. The operation had been dubbed Project Buffalo.

Momentum, BBVA's program in support of social entrepreneurship, is today a benchmark in the sector. Since its first edition in 2011, it has driven the expansion process of 56 companies with high social impact in Spain, 30 in Mexico and six in Peru. Many of them have succeeded in making a niche for themselves in the market thanks to their pioneering products or new approaches to business.

From an app to tell stories using fiction formats to a car insurance app to pay per mile traveled, startups are not lowering their guard in order to gain a foothold on the tech grid.

BBVA Compass is helping to add a fitting footnote — housewarming gifts — to the heartwarming story of some of Los Angeles' most at-risk residents getting homes of their own.

BBVA Group and the Regional Government of Catalonia signed a deal to roll out a social housing project. Within the framework of the agreement, the institution will temporarily transfer tenancy rights over 1,800 housing units to the Generalitat.  The 8-year agreement also sets out a social inclusion plan to improve the personal prospects of the beneficiaries. With this social agreement, BBVA’s social housing portfolio now stands at 7,000 units in Spain.

Those visiting his office for the first time will find it hard to believe that the site for the Distrito Castellana Norte project can actually be seen from Antonio Béjar’s desk on a top floor of Plaza Castilla.

• Results: Earnings remain strong despite the complex environment, thanks to BBVA’s diversified model and the strength of emerging markets. Gross income for the first nine months comes to €16.30 billion. Net income reaches €3.08 billion, 85.8% more than the same period a year earlier
• Risks: As expected, BBVA has carried out this quarter an extraordinary and demanding exercise that has led to a reclassification to non performing of €3.86 billion of refinanced loans in Spain. Following the exercise, the Group’s NPA ratio, excluding real estate activity in Spain, stands at 4.6% and the NPA ratio of the Spanish banking activities stands 6.2%. 41% of NPLs are up to date with payments
• Capital adequacy: The core capital ratio for the Group increased to 11.4% at the end of September, based on current Basel regulation. The ratio does not include the impact from the sales of the pension business in Chile, the 5.1% stake in China CITIC Bank Corporation Limited and the franchise in Panama. Such effect under Basel III fully loaded would lead to an increase of about one percentage point
• Dividend: From 2014 onwards, BBVA intends to put in place a shareholder remuneration policy in accordance with the Group’s growth profile, with a cash dividend payout of 35% to 40% of profit. Taking into account the recommendation of the Bank of Spain, BBVA will not pay a dividend in January 2014, and intends to increase the shareholder remuneration payable in April 2014 to a total of 17 euro cents per share through the “dividend option” scheme