The percentage of low down payment loans using private mortgage insurance continues to grow, and should continue as more first-time homebuyers get conforming loans, according to Keefe Bruyette & Woods.
National MI deliberately dropped some of its customers in the second quarter, resulting in flat new insurance growth compared with the first quarter and a lower increase versus one year prior.
Arch MI U.S. returned to having the No. 1 market share among private mortgage insurers as it increased its new insurance written 15% over the previous year.
Radian Group's second-quarter earnings beat consensus estimates because of lower loan loss provisions than forecast, along with record new mortgage insurance written.
Senior FellowMilken Institute Center for Financial Markets
The fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge for low down payment mortgages disproportionately reflect their risk exposure and make homeownership more difficult for underserved borrowers.
The Internal Revenue Service's settlement with Radian Group may result in a $74 million tax benefit for the mortgage insurer that could improve its second-quarter results.
Oaktown Re II is National Mortgage Insurance's first rated transaction, according to Morningstar; it reinsures $5.47 billion of policies on mortgages with a total balance of $30.12 billion.
A Fannie Mae test to handle the private mortgage insurance process for lenders may raise concerns that it's going outside the scope of its secondary market mission. But the effort reflects its mandate to explore new credit-risk transfer alternatives, a company executive said.
Genworth Financial's mortgage insurance business, which had slipped in market share, has more certainty about its future prospects after a federal government committee approved the holding company's acquisition by China Oceanwide.
