Runoff Outpaces MI Issuance of New Policies

Primary insurance-in-force among the nation's mortgage insurers fell to $937 billion in March, a slight decline from the pervious month, according to new figures released by the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America.The decline, however slight, means MI firms are not writing enough new policies to replace the ones running off. In March, the nation's six active MI firms wrote $9.9 billion of primary new insurance, compared to $8.5 billion in February. A very small percentage of the policies were "bulk" in nature. The MI industry is facing a competitive threat from the boom in FHA/VA-backed loans. Meanwhile, the cure/default ratio improved for the second consecutive month, going from 75.5% in February to 83.2% in March, its best performance in a year. There were 69,931 cures and 84,042 defaults in March.