For the first time since 2010, the private mortgage insurance (PMI) company MGIC reported quarterly profits.
In the second quarter (Q2) of 2013, MGIC reported:
- $196 million in mortgage claims costs; and
- $12 million in profit.
Compare this to Q2 2012, when MGIC reported:
- $551 million in mortgage claims costs; and
- $274 million in losses.
first tuesday insight
This outcome seemed virtually impossible one year ago, when MGIC was still suffering under a seemingly unrelenting barrage of homeowner defaults. In February 2012, 75% of first tuesday journal readers polled thought MGIC was guaranteed to sink.
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But two key changes in the mortgage market have impacted MGIC’s balance sheet since then:
- homeowner defaults decreased — in California the rate was 53% lower in Q2 2013 than in Q2 2012; and
- the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) raised their mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) and extended their MIP requirement through the life of the loan.
Considering today’s rising interest rates, the FHA’s increased MIP does little to ingratiate home buyers with their product. As the disparity in rates between MIP and PMI premiums grows, so does the number of homebuyers choosing PMI firms like MGIC rather than an FHA-insured loan.
MGIC and other PMI companies can raise a hallelujah — it looks like they may stick around after all and prosper with the private sector. Home buyers will reap the benefits of this unlikely survival through increased competition between PMI and FHA MIP rates.
When private insurance providers are left to compete and hash out their differences without government programs outbidding them, buyers needing purchase-assist mortgages win.
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Re: “MGIC Leads Mortgage Insurer Rally on Return to Profit” from Bloomberg.
Found out recently while trying to refi under Harp 2 program that BofA added a Lender Paid PMI to my loan when they took over Country Wide. Never had PMI on my Home. New Lender says they can’t refi unless that Lender PMI remains. Tried to get Servicing Co. to remove but they said no. But they would continue to pay for it.??? How do I get them to remove it?? I’m pretty much debt free with a 800 Fico. Ins Co. said Lender Paid PMI is usually because the Borrower has bad credit or late payments. Not because of LTV. This has been a fiasco from day one. Any Help?????