There was slightly more available credit to home buyers in June, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI).
The newly launched index increased to 109.8 in June, about a 1% increase over May, when it reached 108.9, according to the MBA.
The MCAI, which was launched by the MBA last month, is said to be the only index of its kind measuring available credit to borrowers. It measures how much overall mortgage credit is available from month to month, and, as such, is indicative of whether lenders are loosening or tightening their standards.
The MCAI uses underwriting criteria from more than 85 lenders/investors combined with data derived from AllRegs' Market Clarity product and a proprietary formula developed by the MBA to arrive at its conclusions.
Mortgage credit availability trended relatively lower throughout 2012 and is currently at levels seen in 2011, when the MBA first started calculating the index.
Had the index been tracked in 2007, it would have been roughly 800, according to the MBA.