Despite an easing of government loan access, the overall availability of mortgage credit dipped slightly in March the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said on Thursday.  Credit access is measured by the MBA on its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) and it was at 123.5 in March, a decline of 0.2 percent compared to the previous month.  A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of loosening credit. 

The MCAI has four component indices based on the population of loan programs they measure; the Government MCAI (FHA, VA, and USDA), Conventional (non-government), Jumbo, and Conforming which examines loan programs that fall under conforming loan limits.  Of the four component indices, the Government MCAI saw the greatest loosening (up 0.9 percent) over the month while the Conventional MCAI saw the most tightening (down 1.6 percent). The Jumbo MCAI decreased 0.2 percent, while the Conforming MCAI decreased 0.4 percent over the month.

Lynn Fisher, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics, said, "On net mortgage credit availability tightened very slightly in March. Administrative changes drove declines in the availability of conventional and super conforming loan programs, and those were partially offset by slightly relaxed lending standards on government lending programs which includes FHA, VA, and RHS," said.

The MCAI is designed to indicate the availability of mortgage credit at a point in time.  MBA calculates the index and its components using several factors related to borrower eligibility (credit score, loan type, loan-to-value ratio, etc.) gathered through its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey combined with data from Ellie Mae's AllRegs® Market Clarity® product.

The Conforming and Jumbo indices have the same "base levels" as the Total MCAI (March 2012=100), while the Conventional and Government indices have adjusted "base levels" in March 2012.