October Reported Increased Credit AvailabilityBy RISMedia Staff
October saw increased credit availability according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), which analyzes data from Ellie Mae’s AllRegs® Market Clarity® business information tool.
The details: - MCAI increased 0.1% to 125.7 in October—indicating loosening credit - The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012 - The Conventional MCAI increased 0.1%, while the Government MCAI was flat - Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI increased by 4.1% and the Conforming MCAI decreased 6.0% The takeaway: “Credit availability inched forward in October, but the overall index was 30% lower than February 2020 and close to the lowest supply of mortgage credit since 2014,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s associate vice president of Economic and Industry Forecasting, in a statement. “Within the subindexes, a 4% increase in the jumbo index was essentially offset by a 6% drop in the conforming index. There was an increase in the supply of jumbo ARM and non-QM products, which drove most of the increase in the jumbo index. On the conforming side, there was a pullback in ARMs, higher LTV loans and lower credit score products. While there is tightening in ARM credit availability both for jumbo and conforming loans, ARM loans have accounted for a small share of loan applications, ranging from 2.5% to 5% of applications to date in 2021.” “Tight credit availability, combined with ongoing supply and affordability challenges, are significant obstacles for some prospective first-time buyers,” added Kan. |
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