MILWAUKEE - Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. bolstered its lead in mortgage-insurance underwriting in the third quarter, again outpacing rival GE Mortgage Insurance Corp. in new insurance written.
Wilwaukee-based Mortgage Guaranty, or MGIC, wrote $10.6 billion in new insurance in the third quarter, a 51% increase over the equivalent period in 1992. GE Mortgage, Raleigh, N.C., weighed in with $9.3 billion in new insurance written in the third quarter, a 24% increase.
The mortgage insurance industry, which insures against loss lenders of mortgages with high loan-to-value ratios, has been lifted this year by wave after wave of business associated with falling rates.
Relevance in Question
Some industry insiders believe that, because of high refinancing levels, new-insurance figures may be a somewhat less accurate measure of performance than in years past.
William H. Lacy, president of MGIC, believes that his company's strong showing reflects the market as a whole. "Our 51% increase in new insurance written in the third quarter reflected the strong demand for ... our product fueled by increased affordability, as well as a higher level resulting from the overall strength of the mortgage market." he said. He also noted that 32% of MGIC's new business was on mortgages being refinanced.
PMI Cites Staff Additions
Business as No. 3 PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., San Francisco, has also been stimulated by the hot mortgage market. The company wrote $18.7 billion of new insurance in the first nine months of this year, nearly surpassing its $19.2 billion total for all of last year.
Tony Porter, a vice president, says the strong showing is partly attributable to the fact that PMI added a substantial number of account executives in 1992.
PMI wrote $7.4 billion in new insurance in the third quarter alone, an increase of 48% over the same period last year.
GE Mortgage Insurance has written $23.7 billion in new insurance this year, 17% ahead of last year's pace. Though GE is growing less rapidly than its peers, the company expressed satisfaction with the results. "The most important measure is the quality of the book of insurance we write. We are very pleased with our book," said Mike Kachel, a GE spokesman.
The smaller mortgage insurance companies also posted strong increases in volume.
United Guaranty Corp., Greensboro, N.C., doubled its 1992 third quarter volume by underwriting $5 billion. United Guaranty has written $11.8 billion thus far this year, as compared to $7.3 billion in the equivalent period last year.
Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. surged 55% in third-quarter volume to $3.4 billion, bringing its 1993 total to $8.4 billion.
Commonwealth Mortgage Assurance Co., Philadelphia, wrote $2.1 billion of new insurance in the quarter, a 62% increase.
