MBA Mortgage Credit Availability Index Increases for the Fourth Consecutive Month in April

On Tuesday, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) report for April. According to the MCAI, which analyzes data from ICE Mortgage Technology, mortgage credit availability increased in April.

The MCAI increased 0.1% to a reading of 94.0 in April, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase. The MBA notes that a decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of loosening credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012.

The Conventional MCAI rose 0.3%, while the Government MCAI was unchanged. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI and the Conforming MCAI both increased by 0.3%.

Adding background and analysis to the report, MBA Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist Joel Kan said:

“Mortgage credit availability was little changed in April, with credit categories such as conventional, conforming, and jumbo seeing very small monthly gains. The supply of credit has stabilized, expanding slightly over the past four months but remaining close to 2012 lows. Lenders continue to reduce capacity with mortgage rates still above 7% and origination volume moving at a slow pace. Even with challenging affordability conditions and fairly strong housing demand, credit remains tight and housing supply low.”