In a First, Bulk New MI Tops Traditional

In a sign of where the mortgage industry may be heading, the volume of primary new insurance written by members of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America that came through the bulk channel in December topped the volume of the traditional channel for the first time ever.The bulk volume totaled $13.9 billion, compared with $12.8 billion in traditional volume. The bulk channel is where the private mortgage insurers get most of the riskier product, such as nonprime loans. The total volume, $26.7 billion, made December by far the best month of the year for private mortgage insurers. The other months in which over $20 billion in volume was recorded were June, at $23.1 billion; August, at $22.2 billion; and September, at $23.8 billion. It was also because of large growth in the bulk channel that for the year, MICA members did more volume than in 2004. Volume in 2004 totaled $219.0 billion, with $179.8 billion in traditional and $39.2 billion in bulk. Last year, volume totaled $225.0 billion, with $158.1 billion in traditional and $66.9 billion in bulk business. MICA can be found online at http://www.micanews.com.