Mortgage credit availability dips as lenders simplify offerings

Read more: Black Knight reports equity pullbacks due to decelerating home price growth

Black Knight last week saw a significant drop in annual house price appreciation, down 0.77% to 14.5%. Kan, however, highlighted a small increase in the supply of new HELOC products, which slightly offset those trends.

“With aggregate home equity still at elevated levels, HELOCs could benefit borrowers who might not want to give up on their current, low mortgage rate but do want to utilize their home equity to support other spending plans,” he said.

Credit availability of conventional mortgages decreased by 1%, while the supply of government loans remained virtually unchanged. Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo index dropped by 0.7%, and the conforming MCAI fell by 1.2%.