There is a new index out there that tracks the availability of mortgage credit and informs consumers who hard it might be to get a home loan at any particular time.

The Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) tracks each party of a mortgage transaction seperately and based on the lenders requirements to qualify, and then the MCAI spits out a number telling you if guidelines have been relaxed as of lately or if they are tightening up again.

A consumer who watches this index can get an idea how in depth lenders are looking at files and can make assumption as to whether their loan is going to be harder or easier to get through underwriting.

Of course a good loan officer can get your loan through underwriting by asking the right questions up front and collecting the right documentation to send to the underwriter the first time around.