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MReport May 2018

TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.

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42 | TH E M R EP O RT O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST ORIGINATION Lending Crackdown Program offerings in the conventional mortgage space impacted credit availability across all mortgage types. M ortgage credit avail- ability decreased 1.2 percent as program offerings in the conventional mortgage space af - fected the overall availability of credit, bringing the index down to 180.7. The MBA unveiled this data along with other findings in their monthly report for February on the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI). Declines in index numbers are indicative of a crackdown on lending standards, while increases usually indicate a loosening of credit. Conventional Mortgage Credit Availability Index loans decreased by 2.5 percent, while credit avail - ability for conforming MCAI loans fell 2.1 percent. The month- to-month decline in February made for a continued pattern from September, where investors put out more products one month but pulled back the next month. Lynn Fisher, VP of research and economics for the MBA, said a change in program offerings from a single large investor in the conventional space played a big part in the decline. Fisher went on to say that the February decline brought the Jumbo com - ponent index to year-end levels and the conforming component to levels comparable to last October. By contrast, in January, the MCAI increased by 2.1 per - cent to 182.9. The conventional MCAI rose 3.6 percent, and the Government MCAI rose 0.9 percent. Component indices of the Conventional MCAI in - creased from the previous month, with the Jumbo MCAI going up 6.1 percent more than the Conforming MCAI (which went up 1.1 percent). The Conforming and Jumbo indices have matching base levels as the total MCAI, while the Conventional and Government indices have adjusted base levels. In 2012, the mortgage credit index was 100, an exceptionally tight number. Tightening in the conventional space caused the decline. Conventional, Government, Conforming, and Jumbo MCAIs are designed to show general credit risk for each index. The MCAI is calculated using numerous factors related to bor - rower eligibility. These factors in- clude credit score, loan type, and loan-to-value ratio. Metrics and underwriting criteria of 95 lenders and investors are combined by MBA to calculate the MCAI.

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