NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is having a "hard time" refinancing his home loan due to the tight credit conditions in the mortgage market.

"I recently tried to refinance my mortgage and I was unsuccessful in doing so," Bernanke said, speaking at a conference in Chicago, according to Bloomberg report on Thursday.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's said on Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications fell 0.3 per cent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases, a leading indicator of home sales, were unchanged.

Bernanke also said the market for first-time home buyers was"not what it should be," Bloomberg reported. "The housing area is one area where regulation has not yet got it right," Bernanke said, according to the report.