Mortgage credit availability tightened in June, falling 3.3% compared with May to a score of 125.0 on the the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI).
Credit availability for conventional loans fell 4.1% while credit for government loans decreased 2.8%.
Within the conventional category, credit for jumbo loans fell 7.3% while credit for conforming loans fell by 1.0%.
“Mortgage credit supply dropped again in June, as investors further reduced their willingness to purchase jumbo loans and those with lower credit scores,” says Joel Kan, associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting for the MBA, in a statement. “Lenders are navigating a gradual economic and housing market recovery that is still facing headwinds from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The overall credit availability index decreased 3.3 percent to its lowest level since April 2014, with all of the sub-indexes falling to lows not seen since 2014-2015.
“Credit supply has fallen over 30 percent since February – before the pandemic – with an 18 percent decrease in government loan availability, and a 57 percent drop in jumbo loan availability,” Kan adds.
The report analyzes data from Ellie Mae’s AllRegs Market Clarity business information tool.