December was the best month of 2010 for private mortgage insurance companies in terms of primary new insurance written, and the second worst of the year in terms of the cure/default ratio.
According to the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America, there was $8.5 billion of NIW written during the month, including $122 million through the bulk channel. This is up from November's $7.4 billion of NIW and December 2009's $5.1 billion.
However, applications received declined month-to-month, from 39,531 in November to 37,140 in December.
Primary insurance in force and primary risk in force continue to decline. On Dec. 31, there was $753 billion of primary insurance in force and $182 billion of primary risk in force; on the same day one year prior, these were at $863 billion and $201 billion respectively.
December's cure/default ratio of 79.8% reflected 50,707 cures (the fewest during the calendar year) and 63,519 new notices of default. The only month with a lower ratio in 2010 was January at 68.1%; the ratio for December 2009 was 71.3%.
Pool risk written in December was $8.7 million. Pool risk in force reversed its downward trend and is at $7.9 billion as of Dec. 31, up from $6.7 billion at the end of the third quarter and $7.7 billion at the end of 2009.
