Spain's new mortgages hit four-year low in August

MADRID - Spain registered 19,825 residential mortgage approvals in August, the lowest monthly rate in over four years, the National Statistics Institute said on Wednesday.

August's numbers represent a 3.4% drop compared to the same period last year, and a 24% loss on July.

But experts pointed to a recovery in the number of new mortgages in June and July, when Spain exited a coronavirus lockdown, and indications of an improvement in September, as positive signs.

State-owned lender Bankia, which is in talks to merge into Spain's biggest domestic lender, reported income from new mortgages up 71% in September compared to August. 

(Reporting by Clara-Laeila Laudette Editing by Ingrid Melander and Catherine Evans) ((Clara-Laeila.Laudette@thomsonreuters.com;))