WASHINGTON, D.C. - Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) reported slightly higher originations of privately insured mortgages in March compared with the previous month. During March, 139,610 borrowers used private mortgage insurance (PrivateMI) to buy or refinance a home, slightly more than the February total of 139,077.

Additionally, MICA reported the following key PrivateMI industry metrics for the month of March:

• PrivateMI Applications Received. The number of PrivateMI applications received in March by MICA members was 160,139 or 4.8% more than the 152,786 received in February.
• Dollar Volume. The dollar volume of primary insurance written on newly originated 1-to-4 family conventional mortgage loans totaled $20,495.1 million in March, a 6.8% increase from February’s $19,198.8 million. Traditional primary new insurance totaled $20,309.2 million, and bulk primary new insurance totaled $185.9 million in March. Year-over-year, the March 2008 total of traditional primary new insurance written represented an increase of 27.7% from the March 2007 total of $15,909.7 million.
• Primary Insurance-In-Force. Primary insurance in-force totaled $848,145.8 million for March, a slight increase compared to $839,602.6 million for the month of February.
• Cures and Defaults. MICA members reported 50,585 cures during March, a 5.5% increase compared with 47,933 cures during February, and a 42.6% increase over 35,468 cures in January. There were 58,131 defaults during March, a 4.6% decrease from 60,911 defaults in February, and a 15.7% decrease from 68,950 defaults in January. Year-over-year, defaults in March 2008 increased 37.2% from the March 2007 total of 42,362. In that same period, cures increased 29.4% from the March 2007 total of 39,083.

Suzanne C. Hutchinson, Executive Vice President of MICA, said, “In the past month, cures – or borrowers once headed for foreclosure but now back on-track – have risen slightly, while at the same time there was a slight decrease in the number of new defaults due to seasonal variations.

“The increase in both the dollar volume of new insurance written and primary insurance-in-force as well as the increased number of cures demonstrates that the mortgage insurance industry as a whole is generating new policies and continues to help families become owners of their own homes and maintain their existing homes. We believe this month’s data reflect an ongoing ‘flight to quality’ towards more dependable forms of mortgage credit enhancement.”