For the first time, the U.S. Mortgage Insurance (USMI) unit of Genworth Financial is offering a relocation product with discounted mortgage insurance premiums to help credit unions target populations that tend to be in transition often such as those in the military.
The discounted mortgage insurance rate will be available for applications received on or after March 26, 2012.
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An independent study conducted by Promontory Financial Group concludes that significantly more insured mortgages have survived the housing crisis than loans with "piggyback" second mortgages, which has been the most prevalent alternative to the use of mortgage insurance for the past decade. The study examined almost 5.7 million mortgages originated between 2003 and 2007. Compared with insured, low downpayment mortgages, loans with piggyback second mortgages were almost 21 percent more likely to go into default.
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Private mortgage insurers had more new notices of default to contend with during the month of May than they had loan cures. It was the first time in four months that defaults outnumbered cures. Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) says its five members reported 44,853 defaults and 36,159 cures in May. Private mortgage insurers help loan originators and investors make mortgage funds available to homebuyers who have less than 20 percent for a down payment.
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Prospective homebuyers cite worries about unemployment, property affordability, and the economy as issues that hold them back from jumping into the market, according to an industry survey commissioned by Genworth. But the mortgage insurer says these economic concerns have not translated into excessive mortgage stress among recent U.S. homebuyers. According to the survey, 87 percent of Americans who bought their first home in the past 12 months expect to easily meet their mortgage payment obligations in the coming year.
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Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) says loan cures reported by its member companies outpaced new defaults by 44 percent during the month of March. The group of private mortgage insurers recorded 56,934 loan cures for the month versus 39,557 defaults. MICA members help loan originators and investors make funds available for low down payment mortgages by protecting these financiers from a portion of the financial risk of default.
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Fannie Mae sent a notice to its lenders and servicers Tuesday announcing that the GSE has approved a unit of Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corporation to provide mortgage insurance for conventional first mortgage loans. Yhe subsidiary, Genworth Residential Mortgage Assurance Corporation, is approved to write coverage on Fannie Mae loans in a limited number of states, which the GSE says may change over time.
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A group of private mortgage insurers reported 48,086 defaults during the month of February, but 53,944 loan cures, according to data from the trade association Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA).
For February, the cure/default ratio for MICA members came in at 112.2 percent. It's the first time since May 2010 that default cures have outnumbered new default notices among the group, and it's a notable bounce-back from the previous month when the cure/default ratio was 78.6 percent.
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Genworth Financial, a mortgage insurer based in Richmond, Virginia, saved $6.6 billion in U.S. mortgages from foreclosure last year, according to the company's latest Foreclosure Prevention Scorecard. Compared to 2009, when the company saved $2.6 billion, that's an increase of more than 153 percent. Genworth says it provided nearly 40,000 workouts to distressed borrowers last year, saving each, on average, more than $195,500.
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The mortgage insurance division of Genworth Financial, Inc. now accepts Federal Housing Administration (FHA) appraisals as part of its conventional mortgage underwriting process. Available to lenders who are approved to do business with Genworth Mortgage Insurance, appraisals originally completed for an FHA loan can now be used for a conventional Genworth-insured loan. The company says this new arrangement allows it to underwrite conventional applications in as little as 48 hours at no additional cost to the borrower.
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Based on data from six member firms, Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) reports that the companies accounted for a total of $780.3 billion in primary mortgage insurance in force in August.
The private mortgage insurance industry enjoyed its best month of the year for new business. The dollar volume of primary insurance on newly originated conventional mortgages totaled $6.4 billion. MICA's members reported that 32,215 borrowers used private mortgage insurance to buy or refinance a home in August.
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