Mortgage Credit Availability Falls to 9-Year Low
Mortgage credit availability fell in September for the seventh straight month to its lowest level since 2013, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported Tuesday.
The MBA Mortgage Credit Availability Index fell by 5.4 percent to 102.5 in September. The Conventional MCAI decreased by 4.9 percent, while the Government MCAI decreased by 5.7 percent. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI decreased by 5.8 percent, while the Conforming MCAI fell by 3.6 percent.
“With the likelihood of a weakening economy, which would lead to an increase in delinquencies, there was a smaller appetite for lower credit score and high LTV loan programs, along with a reduction in government streamline refinance programs,” said Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. “As mortgage rates have more than doubled over the past year, resulting in a drop in refinance activity, lenders have worked to reduce excess capacity and costs by eliminating underutilized loan programs. All the component indices declined last month, with most of the indices falling to their lowest levels in over a year. In particular, the government credit availability index has declined in seven of the last eight months to its lowest level since April 2013.”
The report 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.
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 ICE Mortgage Technology 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.
