Private MI Rises on Bulk Volume

The volume of private mortgage insurance written by members of Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America totaled $19.2 billion in September, compared with $18.5 billion in August.However, the amount of traditional insurance written declined from $15.4 billion in August to $14.7 billion in September, MICA reported. Bulk policies written reached their highest total so far this year in September, at $4.5 billion, up from $3.2 billion the month before. Application volume fell 7.6% in September, from 145,993 in August to 134,842. At the end of September, $613.7 billion of primary insurance was in force, down from $619.1 billion at the end of December 2003. Pool risk written for September was $66.1 million, up from $21.3 million in August, but well below the $605.0 million written in September 2003. The cure/default ratio for September was 78.9%, compared with 86.2% in August. The reporting companies had 34,451 primary insurance cures and 43,656 primary insurance defaults. MICA can be found online at http://www.micanews.com.