Mortgage credit availability expanded for the third consecutive month in November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
The MBA's Mortgage Credit Availability Index rose 1.6% to 174.1 in November, which indicates a loosening of credit standards.
The November increase was driven by the "increased availability of conventional low down payment and streamlined refinance loan programs," Lynn Fisher, MBA's Vice President of Research and Economics, said in a news release Monday.
All four of the overall index's components demonstrated increases as well. The conforming MCAI rose 2.2% over the month, while the government MCAI increased 1.8% and the conventional MCAI expanded 1.5%. The jumbo MCAI experienced the smallest increase, with a 0.8% uptick.
