Following the housing crash, potential home buyers looking to secure a loan had a harder time getting approved due to tightened lending standards. The effort to make sure mortgage loans were given to only the most creditworthy buyers meant otherwise qualified buyers were often unable to get financing. In the years since, however, mortgage credit availability has increased and, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, continues to. In fact, the results of their most recent Mortgage Credit Availability Index found access to financing increased again in May. Combined with historically low mortgage rates and boosted buyer demand, this is good news for the residential real estate market, home sales, and the economy as a whole. The results show that, of the four component indexes, those measuring credit availability for conventional and conforming loans saw the biggest increase, rising 1.2 percent over the previous month. Government loans also saw an increase over April, while jumbo loans were relatively unchanged from the month before. More here.