The typical home buyer doesn’t pay much attention to fluctuating lending standards or the number of available loan programs. They aren’t the first thing on buyers’ minds when shopping for a home. But they matter. Why? Because they affect how easy it is to find and secure financing. That’s why the Mortgage Bankers Association tracks mortgage credit availability each month. Its Mortgage Credit Availability Index gauges whether credit has become more or less available on a scale where any increase means credit is loosening and decreases mean credit is becoming more tight. According to their most recent index, the MBA says credit availability increased in May. It was the fifth consecutive monthly improvement. “Mortgage credit availability rose gradually in May and has increased for five consecutive months,” Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, said. “The overall supply of mortgage credit is still close to 2012 lows, but is slowly increasing.” (source)
