Mortgage Availability

Mortgage credit availability fell to its lowest level in more than six years in August as the industry manages its way through the coronavirus pandemic, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced. The Mortgage Credit Availability Index dropped by 4.7 percent to 120.9 in August, indicating that lending standards are tightening. The conventional loan MCAI decreased 8.7 percent, while the government MCAI dropped by 1.4 percent. “Mortgage credit supply fell to its lowest level since March 2014, driven by a reduction in supply from both conventional and government segments of the market,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. Kan added jumbo credit availability has fallen about 59 percent since before the pandemic.…

Mortgage credit was slightly more available last month after tightening every other month of the year to date, according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index released by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The MCAI rose by 1.5 percent to 126.9 in July. The Conventional MCAI increased 2.9 percent, while the Government MCAI increased by 0.4 percent. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI increased by 5 percent, and the Conforming MCAI rose by 1.2 percent. “Credit availability rose slightly in July – the first increase in eight months – as the supply of certain types of adjustable rate mortgages and jumbo loans increased. The improvement was more of a leveling off from the precipitous drop earlier this…