Mortgage credit availability edged down slightly in September, marking the second consecutive month of narrower lender offerings, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) said Thursday.

The MBA’s Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI), which tracks changes in credit underwriting conditions, eased 0.2% to 107.1 last month, as lenders tightened their credit boxes for conventional loan programs backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

During a month in which average mortgage rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans climbed roughly 50 basis points to well above 7%, cash-out refinance and investor home purchase programs also decreased, the MBA explained.

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“This tightening in credit supply also impacted jumbo loan programs, which saw credit availability decline for the second consecutive month,” commented Joel Kan, the association’s deputy chief economist, in the monthly report.

Using data from ICE Mortgage Technology, the MCAI assesses consumer access to mortgage financing based on criteria like credit scores and loan-to-value ratios relative to the loan programs actively offered by lenders. The index rises when lending conditions loosen and falls when they tighten.

Despite credit availability for jumbo mortgage programs declining once again in September, Kan noted that the ongoing expansion of lenders’ non-agency offerings has continued to support the jumbo segment.

Non-agency loans are ineligible for purchase by Fannie, Freddie or Ginnie Mae, the government-run corporation that guarantees issuers of government-backed mortgage securities. Home equity and non-qualified mortgage programs have seen particularly strong demand amid months of rising mortgage rates.

A pullback in conventional offerings ultimately drove the monthly retreat in the broader MCAI, as the conventional component index declined 0.4%. The government index was unchanged, however, and has “remained stable over the past three months,” said Kan.

The jumbo component of the conventional index fell 0.3% and the conforming component index decreased by 0.2%. Conforming mortgages satisfy the conventional loan limits set by Fannie and Freddie, while jumbo mortgages exceed that dollar threshold, which is currently set at $832,750 for one-unit properties in most of the U.S.