Unlike what was expected, nationalized Spanish banks have started to sell toxic real estate properties at the same prices they were listed when the banks owned them. The "bad bank," known as SAREB, is taking this course in order to avoid a near-term collapse of the real estate market and long-term squabbles with major shareholders: major Spanish banks. These large non-nationalized banks are also in the middle of a long, hard process of selling off toxic real estate assets.
The "bad bank" should not rush to sell the more than 20,000 homes that it has acquired, because it has been given 15 years to achieve its main goal: turn a profit and earn back taxpayer money. But the "bad bank" should avoid giving steep discounts to buyers given the fact that it acquired the properties at an average discount of 54% just a few months ago.
