Primary MI Dips, but Still Strong

Production of new primary mortgage insurance remained relatively strong in November, even though there was an 8% decline from the level recorded in October.The members of the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America reported $24.2 billion in total primary new insurance written during November, down from $26.2 billion in October. It was the seventh consecutive month in which the volume in the traditional category exceeded the $20 billion mark. In November, $23.4 billion of new traditional insurance was written, down from $25.3 billion in October but a huge improvement from the $13.0 billion written in November 2006. But October's anemic production in the bulk channel of $911.5 million was duplicated in November as that channel, through which most subprime mortgage originations are insured, fell to $793.8 million. There continued to be gains in primary insurance in force, from $790.5 billion in October to $804.8 billion in November. New pool risk written totaled $53.8 billion, up from $23.6 billion in October. The cure/default ratio improved from 56.1% in October to 60.8% in November. There were 37,137 cures and 61,033 defaults during the month. MICA can be found online at http://www.micanews.com.