Tag Archives: Credit Availability

The availability of mortgage credit has dropped more than a full percent over the last month, indicating lenders are continuing to tighten their credit standards. Overall mortgage credit availability fell 1.1 percent in May and 0.2 percent in April. Broken down by loan type, government credit availability saw the biggest drop, falling 1.9 percent over the month. Conforming credit dipped 0.3 percent, while conventional and jumbo credit availability headed the other direction, rising 0.2 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively. Jumbo loan credit availability, which has risen 13 out of the last 15 months, has helped to offset falling credit availability in other sectors.

Pro Teck's Home Value Forecast found that in markets like San Francisco and Detroit are experiencing different recoveries and one reason for this is the credit availability.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Thursday that its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), which analyzes data from AllRegs' Market Clarity, increased 1.8 percent to 117.8 last month. All of the component indices measured by MBA increased month-over-month, with the gauge of conventional loan availability climbing 3 percent and the government index rising 0.9 percent.

With 2015 less than two weeks underway, Fitch Ratings is the latest forecaster predicting great things for housing in the coming year. However, unlike other commentators, whose projections were based on encouraging market trends, the ratings agency says it's a combination of recent government actions that reinforces its view.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Thursday that its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) edged up to a reading of 115.7 in December. The clear driver behind the increase was an announcement earlier in the month that both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are launching new 97 percent loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage programs for qualifying homebuyers, said Mike Fratantoni, MBA's chief economist.

Out of a group of 1,000 Americans polled in Fannie Mae's December National Housing Survey, 41 percent said they now believe the economy is "on the right track," up from 36 percent in November, the company reported. In contrast to December's slightly more positive economic attitudes, consumer sentiment toward the housing market remained subdued for another month.

In a report released Tuesday, researchers at the Urban Institute (UI) say that previous "traditional" observations of mortgage denial rates (calculated by dividing the number of denied mortgages by the total number of applications) provide an inaccurate look at credit availability because they include applicants with near-perfect credit profiles—those who are unlikely to be turned down for most products, in other words.

In a testimony before the Senate Banking Committee's subcommittee on housing, Mabel Guzman, 2014 chair of the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Conventional Finance and Lending Committee, highlighted some of the biggest challenges constraining homeownership.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index nudged up 1.2 percent in November, totaling 114.6 for the month. MBA's chief economist, Mike Fratantoni, said last month's uptick mostly came from the addition of jumbo loan programs that allow cash-out refinancing.

In a poll conducted by the Collingwood Group throughout October, 71 percent of mortgage lenders said the odds of them lowering credit score requirements for borrowers are between "somewhat" and "extremely unlikely," with several saying they feel their standards are already relatively low and that they generally follow the credit parameters set by agency investors.