Private mortgage insurers reported hefty increases in the volume of new insurance written during the third quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. The seven active private MIs wrote primary insurance coverage on $53.95 billion of new mortgage originations during the third quarter, a gain of 22.8 percent from the previous period. On a year-to-date basis, total new primary insurance by the MIs was still down 22.4 percent from the first nine months of last year, mostly because activity in the Home Affordable Refinance Program has declined sharply. HARP accounted...[Includes three data charts]