The nation’s seven mortgage insurance companies wrote $13.6 billion of new policies in the first quarter, a 30% gain from the same period last year as the sector continued to gain strength, according to figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.
However, the growth rate was half that of the fourth quarter when MI policies written jumped 60%. Then again, residential fundings were $200 billion greater in 4Q than 1Q.
Meanwhile, a new report from FBR Capital Markets said the nation’s largest MI firm, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., is its favorite pick in the space, but warned investors that “Those looking for instant gratification are best served looking outside of the mortgage insurance stocks entirely.”
According to NMN/QDR, MGIC ranked first in new policies written in 1Q with $3.93 billion, giving it a market share of 28.92%.
The firm’s policy issuance jumped by 59%, but it was not the top gainer in the sector. That distinction belongs to PMI Group, which wrote $2.05 billion of policies, a 62% increase from 1Q 2010.
On Wednesday MGIC reported that new notices jumped 14% in May versus a seasonal 2010 comparison of 2%. FBR said “the data reflected an unsurprising deterioration in credit trends, mostly consistent with seasonality.”
