Primary New Mortgage Insurance Drops to 2009 Low

May was the worst month of the year so far in terms of primary new insurance written by the members of the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America. In addition, the cure/default ratio plummeted to the second lowest level of the year. There was $6.9 billion of primary new insurance written (just $19 million in the bulk channel), compared with $7.8 billion ($5.7 million bulk) in April and $15.5 billion in May 2008 ($3.7 million bulk). The May 2008 data does not include information from Radian Guaranty, but does from Triad Guaranty, the smallest of the MIs, which is now in run-off. The amount of primary insurance in force declined from $932 billion at the end of April to $922 billion one month later. New pool risk written was $22.8 million. The cure/default ratio for May was 59.8%, compared with April's 72.2%. There were 52,590 cures and 87,904 defaults in May.