housing starts since August are down 40 percent

Spanish property companies are coming to terms with the end of a massive boom, with housing starts well down on last year as sales fall and credit tightens.
Pedro Pérez, the secretary general of the so-called G-14 lobby, which groups together the 13 biggest real-estate companies in Spain, told reporters yesterday that housing starts since August are down 40 percent compared with the same period a year earlier.
On top of falling sales, the sector is also feeling the effects of the credit crunch sparked by the US subprime mortgage crisis of the past summer.
According to figures released earlier this week by the College of Property Registrars, sales of homes have dropped 30 percent since the summer, compared with a fall of 15 percent in the first half.