BBVA places $483 mln in mortgage debt in Mexico

MEXICO CITY, Aug 6 (Reuters) - The Mexican arm of BBVA bank said on Wednesday it placed 4.8 billion pesos ($483 million) worth of home loans with investors, its third issue in Mexico's small but fast-growing mortgage-backed debt market.

BBVA (BBVA.MC) said it sold about 9,000 mortgages in the 25-year issue, rated "Aaa.mx" by Moody's.

Mexico's mortgage industry is expanding quickly thanks to economic stability and a government drive to see 1 million homes built and sold per year. But the country's mortgage-backed debt market remains small.

BBVA's Mexican arm, BBVA Bancomer, first issued mortgage-backed debt in December last year.

A crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage market, which caters to borrowers with patchy credit histories, has snowballed into a slump in the U.S. banking and housing industries.

Mexican bankers and government officials say there is little risk of the same problems surfacing in Mexico's housing industry any time soon.

Most mortgage applicants in Mexico are first-time home buyers, many of them with low incomes and little experience with banks. But the country does not have a subprime sector. ($1 = 9.936 pesos) (Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Dan Grebler)