Mortgage credit availability decreased in November, falling 3.3% compared with October to a score of 95.9 on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI).
Decreases in the index score indicate that lending standards are tightening, while increases in are indicative of loosening credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012.
Credit availability for conventional loans decreased 2.7%, compared with the previous month, while credit availability for government loans decreased by 3.9%.
Credit availability for jumbo loans decreased by 0.9% while credit for conforming loans fell by 6.6%.
“Credit availability tightened considerably in November, pushing the index to the lowest level in five months,” says Joel Kan, Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist for the MBA, in a statement. “Part of the decline was attributable to investors pulling back on high LTV and low credit score programs for both fixed and ARM loans, as well as further exits from the broker channel in an originations market that is still challenging for many lenders. The most notable impact was on the government index, which decreased to its lowest since December 2012.”
Photo: Pepi Stojanovski