The number of mortgage insurance policies written last month at MGIC Investment Corp. increased, and delinquency improved for the third consecutive month.
During April, $1.7 billion in primary new insurance was written, the mortgage insurance company reported.
Volume increased from $1.6 billion previously reported for March.
Business was nearly double the level in April 2011, when just $0.9 billion in new insurance was written.
Out of an estimated 1,055,000 policies in force for $169.0 billion, 156,698 insured mortgages were delinquent in April.
Policies with past-due loans were cut from 160,473 in March and 189,433 in April 2011.
Using the estimate for the number of insured mortgages, the delinquency rate was 14.85 percent last month.
The rate has retreated each month since January, when it stood at a revised 16.17 percent.
In March the rate was 15.09 percent, while the year-earlier figure was 15.95 percent.
