The Mortgage Credit Availability Index, published monthly by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), is a single number that tells you whether U.S. lenders are loosening or tightening their mortgage underwriting standards. A rising index means lenders are accepting a wider range of borrowers and loan structures. A falling index means they’re pulling back. If you’re shopping for a home loan or trying to read where the market is headed, the index gives you a quick directional signal grounded in what lenders are actually willing to approve.
What the Index Tracks
The headline number is built from four sub-indices, each covering a different slice of the mortgage market.1Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage Credit Availability Index
- Government, covering loans insured or guaranteed by the FHA, VA, and USDA.
- Conventional, covering loans not backed by a government agency.
- Conforming, the subset of conventional loans that fall within the dollar limits set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and can be bought by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
- Jumbo, the subset of conventional loans that exceed the conforming limit and typically carry stricter qualification requirements.2Federal Housing Finance Agency. FHFA Conforming Loan Limit Values
These segments move independently. The Government sub-index can be expanding while the Jumbo sub-index contracts, because federal agencies and private investors answer to different pressures. The sub-index that matters most to you is the one covering the type of loan you’re actually applying for.
How to Read the Number
The MBA set the total index to 100 as of March 31, 2012, and every reading since is measured against that benchmark.3Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage Credit Availability Index Frequently Asked Questions A reading of 120 means credit is 20% more available than it was in March 2012. A reading of 80 means it has contracted by 20%. Month-to-month, what you’re usually looking at is the direction and the size of the percentage change rather than the absolute level.
The sub-indices use their own baselines from the same date. The Conventional sub-index started at 73.5 and the Government sub-index at 183.5, which reflects how much more accessible government-backed lending was than conventional lending in the aftermath of the housing crisis.4Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage Credit Availability Increased in November The gap has narrowed over the years but hasn’t closed.
The index relies on actual published lender guidelines rather than surveys, so it reflects what lenders will do, not what they say they might do. A program willing to accept a 620 credit score with 3% down adds more to the index than one requiring 740 and 20% down.
What Moves the Index
The secondary mortgage market is the biggest lever. When investors are eager to buy mortgage-backed securities, lenders can sell loans off their books and recycle the capital into new originations. That confidence encourages them to widen their product menus. When investor demand cools, lenders pull back. Policy changes at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have an outsized effect on the Conforming sub-index because those two set the rules for the loans they will buy.
Lender risk tolerance shifts with the broader economy. In recessions or periods of rising unemployment, lenders raise minimum credit scores and demand larger down payments. When conditions are strong, they compete for volume by relaxing those thresholds. These are business decisions, and they can move quickly.
Non-qualified mortgage (non-QM) products have become a meaningful driver in recent years. Non-QM loans serve borrowers who don’t fit neatly into conventional or government guidelines: self-employed workers documenting income with bank statements, real estate investors qualifying on a property’s rental income, retirees with large asset portfolios but limited monthly wages. Growth in these programs feeds directly into the Jumbo and Conventional sub-indices. In March 2026, the MBA reported the Jumbo sub-index rose 0.8%, driven by greater availability of non-QM programs.5Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage Credit Availability Increased in March
Regulation also matters. Updates to bank capital requirements, changes in FHA insurance premiums, and new guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau all shift the index. These changes tend to move more slowly than market-driven ones, but their effects stick, because lenders can’t wait them out.
What It Means If You’re Borrowing
The index isn’t a number you plug into a mortgage calculator. It’s a directional read on your odds. When it’s rising, lenders are competing for your business, and you’re more likely to find lower down payment requirements, flexible income documentation, and wider acceptable credit score ranges. Borderline applications have their best shot in these stretches.
When the index is falling, the opposite is true. Lenders are raising the bar and borderline files face tougher odds. If you’re planning to buy during a period of tightening credit, work the fundamentals you control: pay down debt to lower your debt-to-income ratio, avoid opening new credit accounts, and save for a larger down payment. Those steps matter in any market and matter more when lenders are being selective.
Watch the sub-index that matches your loan. If you’re a veteran looking at a VA loan, the Government sub-index tells you more than the headline number. If you’re a self-employed borrower considering a bank statement loan, the Jumbo or Conventional sub-index better reflects what’s available to you. The total index can mask divergence between segments, and the segment you’re actually shopping in is the one that counts.
Where to Find Each Month’s Reading
The MBA publishes the index monthly through press releases on its website. The releases are free to read and include the percentage change for each sub-index along with commentary from MBA economists.5Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage Credit Availability Increased in March The full historical dataset with exact index values is available to MBA members. You can also sign up for email alerts through the MBA site to be notified when a new release is posted.1Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage Credit Availability Index
Even without the member dataset, the monthly release tells you what you need: whether credit availability rose or fell, which sub-indices moved and by how much, and a short explanation of what drove it. Reading two or three releases in a row is usually enough to spot a trend worth factoring into your timing.