The Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) determined mortgage credit availability rose in October, attributing the increase to an expansion in conventional credit supply.
The MCAI, a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) which analyzes data from Ellie Mae’s AllRegs Market Clarity business information tool, revealed credit availability increased 2.5 percent to 186.7 in October.
“Lenders made more conventional and low down payment programs available to prospective borrowers,” Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, said. “This increase in supply was likely in response to a growing number of first-time home buyers in the market, as home price appreciation has slowed and wage growth has picked up. Jumbo credit availability also expanded last month, with the jumbo index increasing again to its highest level since the survey began.”
The Conventional, Government, Conforming and Jumbo MCAIs are constructed using the same methodology as the Total MCAI and are designed to show relative credit risk/availability for their respective index. The primary difference between the total MCAI and the Component Indices are the population of loan programs which they examine.
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.