The Globe and Mail reports in its Tuesday edition that Canada's banking regulator warned bank executives in a meeting last October that a widespread practice of blanket home appraisals for condominium mortgages could breach a federal mortgage rule. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says minutes of a meeting of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions show the OSFI is scrutinizing some mortgage approval practices more closely amid growing concern over the potentially broad economic impact of a collapse in Canada's housing market. Canada experienced one of the largest housing market price declines among the world's major economies last year, with prices falling 2.7 per cent. Declines ranging from 10 to 30 per cent in preconstruction housing prices have left banks at risk of buyers defaulting on their payments or abandoning condo purchases now valued lower. Blanket appraisals, in which a lender uses the property value at the time a buyer agrees to the purchase rather than the value at time of closing, are often used by banks to approve loans on multiple units at a time. In a market where prices are falling, the outdated appraisal increases risks for banks as they could face higher losses on loan defaults.