Borrowers may be having a slightly easier time getting a mortgage. A new lending index released from the Mortgage Bankers Association rose to a three-month high in May, which indicates a loosening of credit standards, particularly among high balance loans.

The MBA’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index rose 1.5 percent in May to a reading of 180.6. All four loan components that the MBA measures in the index—conventional, government, jumbo, and conforming—were up in May. Conventional loans posted a 2 percent increase in availability over April; government loans rose 1 percent; jumbo loans were up 2.2 percent; and conforming loans saw a 1.9 percent uptick.

“The expansion of offerings across all loan types drove credit availability to its highest level in three months,” says Joel Kan, the MBA’s associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting. “In particular, the conventional index and jumbo index both rose to their highest levels since March 2011. This was mainly caused by increased investor interest in jumbo loans and high balance conforming loans.”

Source: “Mortgage Credit Availability Rises to 3-Month High,” Mortgage Professionals America (June 13, 2018)