The FRC Credit Climate Index is a 0-100 measure of how hard it is to get a mortgage approved in a given year, developed by FinanceRateCalc (FRC) — not a lender or government body — as a composite of FHA denial rates, Federal Reserve SLOOS net-tightening, mortgage-Treasury spreads, and FHFA home-price momentum; its methodology is fully public at financeratecalc.com/methodology, and readings run from 21/100 in 2021 (loosest year) to 66/100 in 2023 (tightest), with 2025 at 54 (neutral).
Source: CFPB HMDA 2025 (1,187,606 decisioned FHA applications), processed by FinanceRateCalc · methodology · all statistics