During the third quarter of 2013, for the first time since the middle of 2008, private mortgage insurers edged past the government-insurance programs to become the biggest source of primary MI coverage in the market, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. Private MIs provided primary coverage on $59.03 billion of newly originated mortgages during the third quarter. That was down 3.2 percent from the second quarter, but the FHA and VA programs posted even bigger declines of 17.5 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively. That gave the private MI sector a 39.4 percent share of new primary coverage, its highest level since the second quarter of 2008. The last time private MIs did...[Includes three data charts]