MI volumes jump 12%, competitive pressure builds

February 25, 2026 1:19 PM

Helped by a strong fourth quarter, the six active private mortgage insurers wrote 12% more business in 2025 over the prior year.

Between the third and fourth quarter, new insurance written grew by 4%, according to a report from Bose George of Keefe Bruyette & Woods. Typically, the last three months of the year are weaker than the middle six, but the sharp decline in interest rates helped drive origination volume during the period.

Among the six companies, three companies — Arch, National MI and Radian — reported NIW volume year-over-year gains in the range of 20%. But Essent Group did 3% less business versus the third quarter and the fourth quarter of 2024.

Even with those large share percentage increases at the competition, for the sixth consecutive quarter, MGIC was the most prolific mortgage insurer.

However, the private mortgage insurers continue to lose market share to the Federal Housing Administration program, George said earlier in February. He used insurance-in-force estimates for most of the MIs, as not all companies had reported yet.

Those estimates for the mortgage insurers put IIF down 0.5% versus the third quarter but up 0.9% year-over-year. But FHA grew by 2.3% quarter-to-quarter and 9.4% from the final three months of 2024.

Since the third quarter of 2022, the MIs share has been on the decline, with FHA holding the majority of risk since the middle of 2023.

George's estimates for IIF growth is 2% for this year and next, but the pace will remain below the Federal Housing Administration program as it will continue to benefit from affordability-related factors.

Lower income at MGIC as it concentrates on prudent growth

Net income at MGIC Investment was lower, to $169.3 million, compared with $191.1 million in the third quarter and $184.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2024.

Annual income at $738.3 million for 2025 was below the near $763 million MGIC earned during the prior year.

Helping the quarterly results was a changed mortgage delinquency environment.

"Our reestimation of ultimate losses on prior delinquencies resulted in $31 million of favorable loss reserve development in the quarter," Chief Financial Officer Nathan Colson said during the earnings call. "The favorable development was primarily driven by delinquency notices we received in 2024 and in the first half of 2025 as cure rates on recent new notices continue to exceed our expectations."

But Colson added MGIC's delinquency rate was up 3 basis points over the prior year and 11 basis points from the third quarter, but in line with expectations given normal seasonal patterns and the continued aging of policies written in 2021 and 2022.

The annual delinquency increase was MGIC's slowest pace since the first quarter of 2024, "and we believe reflects the continued normalization of credit conditions that we have discussed throughout the year," Colson commented.

Market conditions have constrained IIF growth, as the company prioritizes prudent activity in this area over capital returns, he continued.

NIW grew to $17.1 billion in the fourth quarter, versus $16.5 billion three months previous and $15.9 billion on a year-over-year basis.

In response to a question, MGIC CEO Tim Mattke says he does not like to discuss pricing trends.

"But I think from our perspective, we were able to sort of find the value where we wanted it this quarter, similar to what we've been seeing for the majority of the year without having major sort of adjustments in our premium in the quarter," Mattke said. "Again, we focus on the returns ultimately and what we can get."

Radian takes next steps towards business model shift

Radian Group finished the quarter with the second most NIW written during the period, but it had some major headlines after the year started.

It completed its Inigo purchase, putting in motion its business model shift. The company also announced the departure of President and CFO Sumita Pandit. Interim CFO Dan Kobell was on the call

But as part of the shift, its real estate services and title units are now considered discontinued operations as they are being marketed for sale.

For the quarter, net income totaled $155 million, up from $141 million three months prior and $148 million from the fourth quarter of 2024.

But taking out the discontinued operations, net income for the fourth quarter ended up at $159 million; for the third quarter this was $153 million and $164 million one year ago.

Full year net income was $583 million ($618 million from continuing operations), compared with $604 million during 2024 ($660 million from continuing operations).

Radian did NIW of $15.9 billion. In the third quarter, volume was $15.5 billion and $13.2 billion for the fourth quarter of 2024.

CEO Rick Thornberry also dealt with a question about the competitive environment, stating Radian doesn't focus on market share.

"We focus on economic value and being disciplined and consistent in our approach," Thornberry said. "And we continue to see really attractive opportunities to leverage our data and analytics to source NIW that has attractive economic value and risk-adjusted returns, which we believe gives us the opportunity to construct a really high-value portfolio."

The sale of the businesses Radian is exiting due to the Inigo purchase is on schedule to be completed by the end of the third quarter, Thornberry said.

Enact year-over-year profits slip in 2025

Enact Holdings also showed stronger results in the fourth quarter over the comparative periods, although on a full year basis, its profitability was lower.

Its net income for the fourth quarter was $177 million, versus $163 million for both three months prior and for the previous year.

Enact did slightly more NIW in the fourth quarter, $14.4 billion versus $14 billion in the third quarter. For the fourth quarter in 2024, the company did $13.3 billion.

This increase was due to "an increase in refinance originations as mortgage rates declined," Rohit Gupta, president and CEO, said during the earnings call. "However, 59% of loans in our book have rates below 6%, providing support for continued elevated persistency."

When asked what Enact is paying attention to from a regulatory perspective, Gupta said they are actively engaged with the current administration.

"So as ideas come up, we actually provide our input on the pros and cons of those ideas, but also equally important in our market, we provide input on implementation of those ideas and what that entails," Gupta said.

This ranges from the discussions around credit scores, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchasing mortgage-backed securities and institutional investors buying single-family homes.

"I wouldn't call out any specific idea which is high up on the list from an execution perspective," Gupta said. "I think it's just a list of ideas right now."

Arch tops $1 billion in underwriting income for fourth year

Unlike the other companies, Arch Capital Group has insurance and reinsurance segments which significantly contribute to holding company earnings.

The mortgage segment results include not just its U.S. primary mortgage insurance business, but its international lines and mortgage reinsurance.

Underwriting income for the mortgage segment totaled $250 million, compared with $260 million in the third quarter and $267 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.

This makes four consecutive years where underwriting income topped $1 billion, CEO Nicolas Papadopoulo said on the earnings call.

Its net premiums written across the segment were 3.6% lower than a year ago reflecting lower U.S. monthly premium volume.

Still, its U.S. mortgage insurance NIW grew to $14.3 billion from $13 billion in the third quarter and $11.8 billion one year ago.

"In our U.S. MI business, new insurance written remained modest and insurance in force was stable," Papadopoulo said. "The underlying credit quality of the portfolio is excellent as

illustrated by favorable cure rates on delinquent mortgages, which drove favorable reserve development in the quarter."

National MI ends year with largest book of business ever

NMI Holdings, the parent company of National MI, posted net income of $94.2 million for the fourth quarter. This was similar to the $96 million for the period ended Sept, 30, 2025, but stronger than the $86.2 million earned in the fourth quarter of 2024. Net income for the full year of $388.9 million, up from $360.1 million for 2024.

It produced $14.2 billion of NIW during the fourth quarter, up from $13 billion in the third quarter and $11.9 billion for the period ended Dec. 31, 2024. Its insurance-in-force is at a record $221.4 billion at the end of 2025.

As for the competitive threat from the FHA program, Adam Pollitzer, president and CEO, said on the earnings call the government program has some challenges in terms of credit, capital, regulatory and the budget when looking at the potential for a rate cut.

"We don't, at this point, given all of those constraints, I think that there should be any additional FHA rate adjustment," Pollitzer said. "We don't think it serves the interest of the American taxpayer to ask them to take on even more risk and provide an even larger subsidy to the housing market, particularly when the MI industry is ready, willing and able to provide all the support necessary."

Essent CEO not worried about market share shift

Even though Essent Group's mortgage insurance business was the only one to report lower NIW, Mark Casale, chairman, CEO and president told analysts not to read too much into it, referring to his past statements about ebbs and flows.

"I'm warning investors because this is just a price game," Casale said. "And if we're like bottom in share and the No. 1 or 2 guys, $5 billion ahead of us in this market, here, it's price."

He'd rather give the dollar to shareholders versus put it into a loan at what he called a super low premium, pointing back to a period when Essent did have the highest market share.

"I'd rather have better unit economics at a smaller share than the other way around," Casale said.

During the prepared remarks, Casale did address Essent's title underwriter subsidiary.

"On the title front, we remain focused on activations, leveraging our lender network and building out our transaction management system," he said. "However, as a primarily centralized refinance platform, our title operations are unlikely to have a substantial impact on earnings unless there's a material decrease in mortgage rates."

NIW during the fourth quarter was $11.8 billion, compared with $12.2 billion in both the third quarter of 2025 and fourth quarter of 2024.

Net income of $155 million for the fourth quarter was down from $164.2 billion three months prior and $167.9 million one year ago.

Full year net income slipped to $690 million from $729.4 million for 2024.