Spain Mortgage Rules Will Impair Housing Recovery, Moody’s Says

Spain’s efforts to revive its broken housing market will be endangered by new regulations on mortgage lenders, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The government said yesterday it wants to stop banks using mortgages of more than 30 years as collateral in covered bonds that package the loans. With the longer-maturity debt making up 10 percent of the mortgage market, the rules will restrict home financing and hurt existing covered bonds, Moody’s said.