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Mortgage credit availability decreased in February according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) that analyzes data from ICE Mortgage Technology.
The MCAI fell by 3.0 percent to 100.1 in February. 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 decreased 4.4 percent, while the Government MCAI decreased by 1.6 percent. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI decreased by 4.4 percent, and the Conforming MCAI fell by 4.3 percent.
Conventional, Government, Conforming, and jumbo MCAI component indices
The MCAI fell by 3.0 percent to 100.1 in February. The Conventional MCAI decreased 4.4 percent, while the Government MCAI decreased by 1.6 percent. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI decreased by 4.4 percent, and the Conforming MCAI fell by 4.3 percent.
Mortgage credit availability decreased to its lowest level since January 2013 with all loan types seeing declines in availability over the month,” said Joel Kan, MBA’s Vice President and Deputy Chief Economist. “The conforming subindex decreased 4.3 percent to its lowest level in the survey, which goes back to 2011. This decline was driven by the ongoing trend of shrinking industry capacity as mortgage rates stayed significantly higher than a year ago. Additionally, in this volatile rate environment and potentially weakening economy, there was also a reduction in refinance programs offered for low credit score and high-LTV borrowers.”
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