There was a slight loosening of credit in June according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), a creation of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).  The MCAI increased from a reading of 115.1 in May to 115.8 in June, an increase of 0.6 percent.   The June uptick was on top of an increase of 1.14 percent in May.

MBA bases the index on an analysis of data from the AllRegs® Market Clarity® product and data it collects on loan metrics and underwriting criteria from over 85 lenders and investors.  An increase in the MCAI indicates that credit access is improving while a decline means lending standards are tightening.  The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012.  

MBA attributed the slight improvement in credit access to a net loosening in lender criteria for minimum credit scores and maximum loan to value ratios specifically for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans.