Access to mortgage credit remained unchanged in September following a slight tightening in August, according to a leading measure.
The Mortgage Bankers Association's [1] (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index [2] was flat at 116.1 for the month, the group reported Thursday. The gauge is calculated based on borrower eligibility metrics nationwide and underwriting criteria for more than 85 lenders and investors.
At its current level, the index points to a slightly looser credit market now compared to when it was benchmarked in March 2012.
MBA's monthly measures show credit access expanded in six of the first nine months of 2014, even as more stringent rules governing lending have taken hold. While experts argue there's been little evidence [3] of this year's wave of regulatory changes making a significant impact on mortgage volumes, 85 percent of senior lending executives still say the current environment is too restrictive [4] for most consumers to secure a home loan.
In its September index, MBA reported a slight decline in credit availability for government-insured loans, which was offset by a minor increase in availability for conventional mortgages. Benchmarks for those indices were also set in March 2012, with the conventional measure based at 69 and the government measure based at 222, reflecting a sizable slant toward government loan programs.