Housing advocates say the new, lower benchmarks generally favor middle- and working-class borrowers at the expense low-income and very low-income borrowers.

A negative profitability gap means the guarantee fees on newly acquired loans weren’t enough to cover the expected cost of guaranteeing the loans and earning the expected return on capital.

Although high interest rates have cut into GSE acquisitions, depriving PMIs of new business, they have also prevented homeowners from selling, allowing insurers to hold on to the business they have.