New business during the final-three months of last year declined at MGIC Investment Corp., while delinquency rose. The book of business grew.
Fourth-quarter 2017 earnings data released Thursday by the Milwaukee-based organization indicate
income before taxes came in at $245 million.
Income improved from the final quarter of 2016, when the total was $162 million. Earnings also ascended from the preceding quarter, when they were reported at $184 million.
From Oct. 1, 2017, through the end of last year, $12.8 billion in new primary insurance was written. Business slowed from $14.1 billion in the third quarter but was unchanged from the fourth-quarter 2016.
Full-year 2017 insurance written came to $49.1 billion,
a little more than the $47.9 billion written during 2016.
Last month concluded with $194.9 billion in primary insurance in force on 1,023,951 loans. The book of business grew from $191.0 billion in force on 1,014,092 loans as of Sept. 30 and $182.0 billion in force on 998,294 loans as of Dec. 31, 2016.
Delinquency on primary insurance in force was 4.55 percent as of Dec. 31, 2017. The rate deteriorated from 4.07 percent three months earlier. But an improvement was noted from year-end 2016, when the rate was 5.04 percent.
“Reflecting the current trends in the origination market we expect to write slightly more new insurance in 2018 compared to 2017 and expect that our insurance in force will continue to grow,” MGIC Chief Executive Officer Patrick Sinks said in the report. “Further we anticipate that the number of new mortgage delinquency notices, claims paid and delinquency inventory will continue to decline.”
