New Year Statistics, Predictions from MGIC

""Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp."":www.mgic.com/ has released its January statistics, as well as the company's projections for the year ahead. MGIC reported an estimated $1.3 billion in new insurance contracts for the month, and the company is predicting a minimal rise in contracts for 2012.

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Numbers from the fourth-quarter of 2011 show that MGIC handled around $4.2 billion in new contracts, and the company's new insurance total for the year was $14.2 billion. Data from 2011 shows a solid increase over 2010 findings, with MGIC reporting only $12.3 billion in new contracts for 2010. MGIC stated that it anticipates a slight uptick over 2011 statistics for this year.

Delinquent loans were on the decline to start the year, and MGIC noted that its delinquent inventory fell to 174,418 loans to end January, versus 175,839 at the beginning of the month. MGIC's notices for new delinquencies stood at 13,700 for January, but loan cures, paid loans, and recessions and denials totals served to offset the tally.

The company's recent statistics are in line with fourth-quarter analysis from last year, during which falling delinquencies were reported. However, MGIC's financial picture wasn't entirely rosy to conclude 2011, with previous mortgage defaults hitting the company's bottom line.

In Wisconsin, MGIC is also starting 2012 with a new deal in collaboration with ""Fannie Mae"":www.fanniemae.com/, ""Freddie Mac"":www.freddiemac.com/, and the state's ""Office of the Commissioner of Insurance"":oci.wi.gov/. Through the transaction, MGIC will be able to continue initiating new business without adhering to specific capital rules mandated by state authorities and the GSEs.

Minnesota-based MGIC closed 2011 with a $135.3 million loss, which is an improvement over the $186.7 million drop the company recorded at the end of 2010. It's also worth nothing that MGIC showed $172.9 billion in primary mortgage insurance on 1.1 million loans when December numbers were released.