Credit Availability Up Slightly While Rates Drop

Sep 11, 2017

The Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) inched up by 0.7 percent 180.2 in August, according to new data from the Mortgage Bankers Association. All four component indices were up last month: The Conforming MCAI by 1.6 percent, the Conventional MCAI by 1.5 percent, the Jumbo MCAI by 1.4 percent and the Government MCAI by 0.1 percent.

“Mortgage credit availability increased slightly in August, driven by the expansion of credit among conforming and agency jumbo programs,” said Lynn Fisher, MBA’s Vice President of Research & Economics. “Following the same pattern as last month, agency eligible adjustable rate mortgage loan programs continued to be updated in August to allow for higher loan to value ratios, effectively increasing the availability of credit.”

Separately, BankRate.com reported that his week began with the average rate for the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage at 3.67 percent, a decrease of 10 basis points (bps) from a week ago. The average 15-year fixed-mortgage rate is 2.94 percent, down four bps from a week ago, while the average rate on a 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage is 3.06 percent, a five bps drop from a week earlier.

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Phil Hall

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Sep 11, 2017

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