Lenders are not changing their gameplans this spring as rising rates have stalled some early-year housing market momentum.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said Tuesday its Mortgage Credit Availability Index rose by just 0.1% from April to 108.0 in May. While the increase indicates slightly loosening credit offerings by lenders, the index has remained relatively flat since March after larger gains to kick off the year.
The findings come after a month in which the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit a nine-month high, and ended May around 6.5%. Although rates have fluctuated in recent months on the macroeconomic fallout of the Iran War, lenders are still offering credit at a level greater than they have in the last two years.
"Given the economic uncertainty and rate volatility, lenders held their loan program offerings fairly stable, although based on the subindexes, jumbo credit availability increased slightly over the month," said Joel Kan, the MBA's vice president and deputy chief economist, in a press release.
In May, the MBA reported its Jumbo MCAI Index increased by 0.3%, driven by adjustable-rate mortgage offerings. While the Conventional Index also was up 0.2%, indices for conforming and government-backed mortgages were unchanged from April.
Lenders have been more amenable to borrowers this year, and purchase and refinance application volume is ahead of last year's pace. However, application volume fell at the end of May, and refis activity trickled to its slowest pace since last June, the MBA reported last week in its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey.
Property owners meanwhile recorded their steepest decline in year-over-year home list prices last month, although experts downplayed any negative signs. Prospective homebuyers also may remain sidelined as Americans say they're increasingly struggling to make ends meet.
As lenders weigh the muted consumer demand and an uncertain forecast for Federal Reserve rate cuts, industry veterans have encouraged originators to turn toward more non-traditional products.
