The Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a survey from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that examines information from ICE Mortgage Technology, indicates that mortgage credit availability rose in July.
In July, the MCAI increased by 3.3% to 98.1. While increases in the index point to looser credit, a decrease in the MCAI suggests tighter lending requirements. In March 2012, the index was benchmarked at 100. While the Government MCAI fell by 0.1%, the Conventional MCAI climbed by 6.4%. The Conforming MCAI increased by 0.7%, while the Jumbo MCAI jumped by 9.3% among the Conventional MCAI component indexes.
“Overall credit availability grew to its highest level since October 2023, driven by increased conventional loan offerings such as ARMs and cash-out refinance loans,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s VP and Deputy Chief Economist. “We also saw credit supply expand for jumbo loans, particularly in the non-QM space. Industry capacity has been low for some time, but we have now seen more than six months of credit expansion, which should be supportive for homebuyers and refinance borrowers, as rates have declined in recent weeks.”
Using the same process as the Total MCAI, the Conventional, Government, Conforming, and Jumbo MCAIs are created to display the relative credit risk and availability for each index. The population of credit programs that the Component Indices and the Total MCAI both analyze is the main distinction between them.
While the Conventional MCAI looks at non-government loan programs, the Government MCAI looks into FHA, VA, and USDA loan programs. FHA, VA, and USDA loan offerings are not included in the Jumbo and Conforming MCAIs, which are subsets of the normal MCAI. Conventional lending programs that are not subject to conforming loan restrictions are examined by the Jumbo MCAI, whereas those that are are examined by the Conforming MCAI.
The Conforming and Jumbo indices have the same “base levels” as the Total MCAI (March 2012=100), while the Conventional and Government indices have adjusted “base levels” in March 2012. MBA calibrated the Conventional and Government indices to better represent where each index might fall in March 2012 (the “base period”) relative to the Total=100 benchmark.
Expanded Historical Series
A longer historical series for the Total MCAI provides perspective on credit availability dating back around ten years; the expanded historical data excludes Conventional, Government, Conforming, and Jumbo MCAI. The expanded historical series, which spans 2004 to 2010, was developed to give the current series historical context by illuminating changes in loan availability during the previous ten years, including the housing crisis and recession that followed.
Less complete and less frequent data were used to construct the data previous to March 31, 2011, which were measured at 6-month intervals and interpolated for charting purposes in the months in between. The expanded historical series from 2004 to 2010 does not include updated methodology.
To read the full report, including more data, charts, and methodology, click here.
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