MBA: Mortgage Credit Availability Increases in September
Mortgage credit availability increased in September, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning.
The MBA Mortgage Credit Availability Index increased by 1.4 percent to 167.0 in September. Of the four component indices, the Government MCAI saw the greatest increase in availability over the month (up 1.9 percent), followed by the Conventional MCAI (up 0.7 percent), the Conforming MCAI (up 0.7 percent) and the Jumbo MCAI (up 0.6 percent).
The MCAI analyzes data from Ellie Mae’s AllRegs Market Clarity business information tool. 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.
“The increase in credit availability in September was driven by more investors offering streamlined refinance programs to borrowers with USDA and FHA loans,” said MBA Vice President of Research and Economics Lynn Fisher. “Streamline programs allow borrowers who have been consistently making their mortgage payments and meet other eligibility requirements, to refinance their existing mortgage into a lower interest rate with reduced documentation requirements.”
Fisher added that while USDA/FHA programs accounted for most of the increase, MBA also observed investors continuing rollout of new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac low down payment (97 LTV) loan programs and some increased availability of jumbo loans.
This summer, MBA updated its methodology to better measure credit availability and released a new historical series based on this updated methodology. As part of this change the Conforming and Jumbo MCAIs have been updated to only include conventional, non-government loan programs. More information about these changes is available at www.mba.org/MortgageCredit.
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. 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 Conforming and Jumbo indices have the same “base levels” as the Total MCAI (March 2012=100), while the Conventional and Government indices have adjusted “base levels” in March 2012. MBA calibrated the Conventional and Government indices to better represent where each index might fall in March 2012 (the “base period”) relative to the Total=100 benchmark.
Expanded Historical Series The Total MCAI has an expanded historical series which gives perspective on credit availability going back 10 years (expanded historical series does not include Conventional, Government, Conforming or Jumbo MCAI). The expanded historical series covers 2004 through 2010, and was created to provide historical context to the current series by showing how credit availability has changed over the past 10 years–this includes the housing crisis and ensuing recession. Data prior to March 31, 2011, was generated using less frequent and less complete data measured at six-month intervals and interpolated in the months between for charting purposes. Methodology on the expanded historical series from 2004 to 2010 has not been updated.
About the Mortgage Credit Availability Index
The MCAI provides the only standardized quantitative index solely focused on mortgage credit.
The MCAI is calculated using several factors related to borrower eligibility (credit score, loan type, loan-to-value ratio, etc.). These metrics and underwriting criteria for more than 95 lenders/investors are combined by MBA using data made available via the AllRegs Market Clarity product and a proprietary formula derived by MBA to calculate the MCAI, a summary measure which indicates the availability of mortgage credit at a point in time. Base period and values for total index is March 31, 2012=100; Conventional March 31, 2012=73.5; Government March 31, 2012=183.5.
To learn more about the Ellie Mae AllRegs Market Clarity platform visit http://answers.allregs.com/MCAI-Market-Clarity. For more information on the Mortgage Credit Availability Index, including Methodology, Frequently Asked Questions and other helpful resources, visit www.mba.org/MortgageCredit or contact MBAResearch@mba.org.
