Mortgage credit availability decreased in April to a score of 122.4 on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI).
That’s down 0.89% compared with March.
A decrease in the MCAI indicates that credit is tightening, while an increase indicates it is loosening. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012.
Credit for jumbo mortgages saw the greatest tightening – down 1.4% – while credit for conforming mortgages saw the most loosening – up 0.1%.
Credit for conventional mortgages decreased 1.0%, while credit for mortgages backed by the federal government decreased 0.7%.
“Mortgage credit became less available in April as a result of two opposing trends,” says Lynn Fisher, vice president of research and economics for the MBA, in a statement. “Investors continued to roll out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s low down payment loan programs, which had a loosening effect on credit availability. However, this was more than offset by tightening among high balance and jumbo loan programs.”