| Mortgage credit availability decreased slightly in October according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that analyzes data from Ellie Mae’s AllRegs Market Clarity business information tool.
The MCAI decreased 0.2 percent to 181.0 in October. A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of loosening credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012. Of the four component indices, the Jumbo MCAI saw the greatest decrease in availability over the month (down 2.0 percent), followed by the Conventional MCAI (down 1.0 percent). The Government MCAI (up 0.3 percent) and Conforming MCAI (up 0.2 percent) both increased from last month.
“Credit availability decreased only slightly in October and has been relatively flat for the year to date,” Lynn Fisher, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, said in a statement. “While government and conforming credit programs saw slight increases in availability in October, a moderate decrease in the number of investor jumbo offerings resulted in a decrease in the total index.”
