Italy: Mortgages plummet amid recession, tight credit
Thursday, 31 May 2012
last update: May 29, 17:31
Rome, 29 May (AKI) - Italians took out more than 31 percent few mortgages during the final quarter of 2011 as the European Union's fourth-richest country was mired in economy and banks tightened credit, according to a report.
During the last three months of the year Italians took out 144,709 mortgages, national statistics agency Istat said in Tuesday.
The reduction totalled more than 14 percent for all of 2011 compared with the prior year, the report said.
Italy's economy has contracted for three consecutive quarters causing unemployment to grow and businesses to fail. Consumer's confidence in the economy fell to a 15-year low, according to a government report released Wednesday.
Italy is suffering its fourth recession since 2001 with almost 10 percent unemployment. Critics of austerity measures in Italy, Greece, Spain and other European countries say the spending cuts have exacerbated an already weak economic situation.
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