Mortgage credit availability decreased in September according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that analyzes data from the AllRegs Market Clarity product.

The MCAI decreased 0.7 percent to 110.7 in September following a similar decline in August.  A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of a loosening of credit.

"Credit availability tightened last month as more lenders removed program offerings with loan terms greater than 30 years and/or interest-only features, similar to the trend we observed last month," Mike Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. "Just as before, we believe this reflects lenders implementation of the Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage regulation which comes fully into effect in January.  Offsetting this tightening has been some increased willingness to offer higher LTV loans, particularly to jumbo borrowers."