Mortgage credit availability increased slightly in August, according to the latest Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI).
The index, created by the Mortgage Bankers Association, increased 0.7 percent to 180.2 last month. An increase in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are loosening, while a decrease says they are tightening.
Of the four component indices, the Conforming MCAI saw the greatest increase in availability over the month (up 1.6 percent), followed by the Conventional MCAI (up 1.5 percent), the Jumbo MCAI (up 1.4 percent), and the Government MCAI (up 0.1 percent).
“Mortgage credit availability increased slightly in August, driven by the expansion of credit among conforming and agency jumbo programs,” Lynn Fisher, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said. “Following the same pattern as last month, agency eligible adjustable rate mortgage loan programs continued to be updated in August to allow for higher loan to value ratios, effectively increasing the availability of credit.”
The Government MCAI examines FHA/VA/USDA loan programs, while the Conventional MCAI examines non-government loan programs. The Jumbo and Conforming MCAIs are a subset of the conventional MCAI and do not include FHA, VA, or USDA loan offerings. The Jumbo MCAI examines conventional programs outside conforming loan limits while the Conforming MCAI examines conventional loan programs that fall under conforming loan limits.
The data for the indices comes from Ellie Mae’s AllRegs Market Clarity business information tool.