New MI Has Banner Month

March was the best month for the traditional category of primary new insurance written in terms of dollar volume since August 2005, according to data from the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America.By application volume, it was the best month since October 2003. Overall dollar volume of primary new insurance written was $26.6 billion, up 57.1% from February's $16.95 billion. The traditional category totaled $15.9 billion written, up from $12.6 billion the previous month. In August 2005, just under $16.0 billion was written. Bulk primary new insurance written totaled $10.7 billion. Bulk production tends to rise at the end of each quarter -- in March 2006, just under $9 billion of bulk volume was recorded. The number of applications received totaled 191,525, up 55.6% from February's 123,059. October 2003 was the last time MICA members had received over 200,000 in applications. (Comparisons with periods prior to July 2003 are not valid because that is when Radian withdrew as a member of the trade group.) New pool risk written totaled $185.1 million. The cure/default ratio stood at 92.3% in March, down four percentage points from that of February.