Mortgage credit availability increased in September on offerings of Freddie Mac's affordable lending programs, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The Mortgage Credit Availability Index rose 0.3% to 126.5% for the month of September. An increase indicates a loosening of lending standards; a decrease indicates a tightening of them.
The index is calculated using loan program data from Ellie Mae's AllRegs Market Clarity product. In March 2012, the MCAI was benchmarked to 100.
The conventional MCAI reported the highest increase of a 1.1% rise on a monthly basis. The conforming MCAI rose 0.8%, the government MCAI rose 0.2% and the jumbo MCAI remained unchanged.
