Mortgage credit availability suffers fourth consecutive monthly decline

The Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) inched down 0.3% in June, indicating a tightening in lending standards due to elevated interest rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Tuesday.

The index dropped for the fourth month in a row to 119.6. Joel Kan, AVP of economic and industry forecasting at the MBA, blames significantly higher mortgage rates for slowing refinance and purchase activity and impacting the overall mortgage credit landscape.

Credit availability was mixed by loan type, Kan noted. The conventional index was up 1.2%, while the government index fell 1.7%. Broken down by the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo index climbed by 1.4%, and the Conforming MCAI rose by 0.6%.