New business during the second quarter at the nation’s mortgage insurance companies moved solidly higher from the first quarter. American International Group’s M.I. subsidiary was the biggest, while a company based in the Caribbean saw the biggest gain.
At United Guaranty, total new insurance written during the second quarter was $11.195 billion, parent AIG reported.
United Guaranty’s business jumped from $7.745 billion in the first quarter, bringing the year-to-date number to $18.940 billion.
But activity was off from the second-quarter 2013, when United Guaranty wrote $13.979 billion.
Essent Group Ltd. reported in its quarterly earnings report that it wrote $5.874 billion, surging from $3.631 billion in the previous three-month period. First-half 2014 business amounted to $9.505 billion.
Business dipped from the second-quarter 2013, when Essent wrote $5.895 billion.
Arch Capital Group LTD reported that its subsidiary, Arch Mortgage Insurance Co., wrote $0.941 billion in new insurance from April 1 through June 30. Business accelerated from $0.639 billion in the first quarter. Full first-half volume was $1.580 billion.
Emeryville, Calif.-based NMI Holdings Inc. said in its second-quarter earnings report that its National Mortgage Insurance Corp. subsidiary wrote $0.430 billion in primary new insurance.
NMI’s business climbed from $0.354 billion written in the first quarter, putting the first-half total at $0.784 billion. The mortgage insurer hadn’t started writing any new business as of the year-earlier period.
Among all mortgage insurers tracked by Mortgage Daily, new business increased 49 percent between the first and second quarters. United Guaranty was the biggest second-quarter mortgage insurer based on new business. But Essent’s 62 percent quarter-over-quarter gain was the largest.
| Company | Q2 2014 | Q1 2014 | Change |
| United Guaranty | $11.2 | $7.7 | 45% |
| Radian Guaranty Inc. | $9.3 | $6.8 | 38% |
| MGIC Guaranty Insurance Corp. | $8.3 | $5.2 | 60% |
| Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp. | $6.1 | $3.9 | 56% |
| Essent | $5.9 | $3.6 | 62% |
| Arch | $0.9 | $0.6 | 47% |
| NMI | $0.4 | $0.4 | 21% |
| TOTAL | $42.2 | $28.2 | 49% |
United Guaranty’s polices in force numbered 826,158, growing from 808,392 three months earlier and 752,143 one year earlier.
The dollar amount of 1st lien insurance in force at Greensboro, N.C.-based United Guaranty grew to $156.050 billion from $150.874 billion as of March 31. The year-earlier total was $134.137 billion.
At Essent, there were 175,773 policies in force, expanding from 154,451 policies three months earlier and 98,818 one year earlier.
Essent’s primary insurance in force ended June at $39.380 billion. The book increased from $34.778 billion at the end of the first quarter and $22.576 billion as of the same point in 2013.
Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Arch had 126,347 policies in force as of the end of June, fewer than 127,019 at the end of March. The insurance in force, including reinsurance, increased to $47.159 billion $45.270 billion.
Just $0.940 billion primary insurance was in force at NMI, up from $0.515 billion as of March 31. However, including pool insurance in force, the latest total was $5.877 billion.
The primary delinquency ratio at United Guaranty tumbled to 4.8 percent from 5.3 percent and has plunged from 7.1 percent as of June 30, 2013.
As of the end of this year’s second quarter, 0.13 percent of Essent’s loans were in default. The default rate increased from 0.12 percent at the end of the first quarter and 0.09 percent as of mid-2013.
Essent’s low default rate reflects a book of business that includes no pre-crisis legacy policies. The Hamilton, Bermuda-based firm launched in 2009 when its Essent Guaranty Inc. unit acquired the proprietary information technology and operating platform of Triad Guaranty Insurance Corp. after that firm stopped writing new business.
The second-quarter default rate at Arch was trimmed to 2.9 percent from 3.0 percent as of March 31.
NMI said that it only had one loan from its primary book in default.
Essent noted that its Essent Reinsurance LTC subsidiary insured a portion of Freddie Mac’s most recent agency credit insurance structure transaction.
