One positive trend for the mortgage insurance sector is that the growth in business during the second quarter was squarely in purchase mortgages and traditional MI loan-to-value ranges.
Marc Savitt, president of the National Association of Independent Housing Professionals, said he is seeing more lenders entering the wholesale channel. Most are nonbanks.
The most encouraging sign is that agency volume has been gaining pace. Production increased by 11.4 percent from May to June, with $76.48 billion in gross issuance.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued $141.83 billion of single-family MBS during the second quarter, an encouraging 9.4 percent increase from the dreary levels recorded in the first three months of 2014.
The sale of mortgages by banks took it on the chin in the first quarter. Lower originations is one explanation but are banks keeping more of their own production?