U.S. Mortgage Credit Availability Increased in June
The MCAI rose 0.2 percent to 189.8 in June. A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of loosening credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012. The Conventional MCAI increased 0.3 percent, while the Government MCAI decreased slightly (0.1 percent). Of the component indices of the Conventional MCAI, the Jumbo MCAI increased by 0.6 percent, and the Conforming MCAI fell by 0.1 percent.
"Overall credit availability increased only slightly in June over May's levels. Jumbo credit availability increased for the sixth month in a row and is at its highest level since 2011, when the survey began," said Joel Kan, MBA's Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting. "Credit availability has generally increased in 2019 as lenders have worked to meet affordability challenges. Because mortgage rates have recently fallen and home price growth has decelerated in many markets, credit availability may stabilize at its current levels."
According to Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates sat at 3.75 percent in late July 2019.
The Federal Reserve cut its federal funds rate today by 25 basis points (bps) to a range of 2.0% to 2.25%. This cut represents a marked change in the direction of monetary policy in the first half of 2019.
Marking the one-year anniversary of the White House executive order on workforce development this week, Greg Ugalde, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders issued the following statement
Existing-home sales in the U.S. weakened in June 2019, as total sales saw a small decline after a previous month of gains. While two of the four major U.S. regions recorded minor sales jumps, the other two - the South and the West - experienced greater declines last month.
The Mortgage Bankers Association latest Builder Application Survey for June 2019 shows U.S. mortgage applications for new home purchases increased 17.9 percent compared from a year ago.
According to Freddie Mac's latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey, after declining for most of 2019, U.S. mortgage rates remained mostly unchanged this first week of July. The recent stabilization in mortgage rates reflects modestly improving U.S. economic data.
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