La financiación de la adquisición de viviendas: crecimiento y sus repercusiones para las cooperativas de crédito españolas

Housing loans have been the most dynamic bank lending activity for the last twenty years. Significant changes have occurred in this period to make the mortgage market more flexible and highly competitive. Prior to the reforms in the 80s it was a very restricted market that was limited to the savings banks and the Spanish Mortgage Bank. Many restrictions have since been removed and new agents have been allowed to enter the market. Nevertheless, families have taken proximity and pleasant treatment into consideration along with the financial terms when choosing where to take out a mortgage. Thus, in spite of the efforts of other intermediaries such as foreign banks, most mortgage loan activity takes place in retail banking services and especially in the savings banks. Within this context, co-operative credit associations have firmly gained ground in the market in the face of strong competition. This was made possible by extending their urban branch network. Moreover, in doing so they have promoted the process of diversification in co-operative credit associations, which traditionally focused on agricultural financing.