Your ability to obtain a mortgage isn’t just a matter of having the right income, savings, and down payment. There are also shifting lending standards and different loan programs. In other words, it can be more difficult at some times to be approved for a mortgage than it is at others. It depends. That’s why the Mortgage Bankers Association keeps a monthly measure of mortgage credit availability. In April, the MBA’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index was relatively flat, falling just 0.4 percent on a scale where any decrease means standards have tightened. Joel Kan, MBA’s vice president and deputy chief economist, says the slight tightening follows three months of increasing credit. “After three months of increases, mortgage credit availability decreased slightly in April as lenders tightened up on conventional loan programs with high LTV and low credit requirements,” Kan said. Overall, access to mortgage credit remains on an upward trajectory after falling to a recent low in 2023. (source)
