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THE LATEST ANALYTICS Mortgage Insurers Write $396B in New Insurance Analysis from late spring displays continuing declines in new insurance business for companies around the marketplace. M Shortage of Distressed Properties Fueled Existing Sales Drop According to NAR, home pricing gains and declining levels of distressed inventory are to blame for slumping sales. T stemmed from a lack of distressed properties on the market, accord- ing to IHS Global Insight. In May, existing-home sales fell he drop in existing- home sales reported by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) likely to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.55 from 4.62 million in April, which is a monthly decline of 1.5 percent, the NAR reported. Existing-home sales were still up from a year ago in May 2011 by 9.6 percent. "Sales declined in May because of a drop in the number and share of investors buying homes. The investor share fell three percentage points from April to 17 percent. This drop was likely related to a drop in the numbers of 'distressed homes' on the mar- ket," said IHS economist Patrick Newport in a commentary. According to the NAR report, investor purchases made up 17 percent of homes sales in May, down from 20 percent in April 62 | THE M REPORT counted for 25 percent of sales compared with 28 percent in April and 31 percent in May 2011. Newport explained homes sales and 19 percent in May 2011. The report also revealed that distressed home sales, or foreclo- sures and short sales, declined monthly and yearly as well. In May, distressed sales ac- been calling for an expedited process to get more foreclosures on the market due to the greater number of buyers compared with available properties. Shortages also are found in much of Florida, according to the NAR. On average, foreclosures sell were also down because those who are underwater or nearly un- derwater "cannot trade up." This drop, he added, is one reason that home prices are rising. The NAR reported the median for discounts of about 19 percent below market values, while short sales sell at a 14 percent discount. While investor sales may be existing-home price for all housing types was up by 7.9 percent in May to $182,600 compared with a year ago. The increase marks the third month of yearly gains. "Some of the price gain results tressed properties, Yun added, realtors in West Coast states have from a shrinking share of dis- tressed homes in the sales mix," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, in a release. Due to the shortage of dis- down due to a lack of discounted properties, more traditional buyers are sprouting on the market. But, IHS said, tight credit conditions are holding that group back. "The home sales market is still on the mend," said Newport. "But the path to recovery will be a slow and bumpy one. The key obstacle to a strong recovery right now is tight credit. Our forecast is for existing-home sales to climb by 9 percent this year to a still too-low 4.68 million units in 2012." lion from April and is the lowest total in a year-long fall. Member companies received 38,355 mort- gage insurance applications for May, and 35,431 borrowers used private mortgage insurance to buy or refinance a home. Both figures are relatively large statistical report showing that member companies reported a total of $396 billion in primary insurance in force for May. This total is down nearly $1 bil- jumps compared with a some- what flat March-April increase. Furthermore, both figures are roughly 15,000 more than they were in May 2011. The dollar volume of primary ortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA) has released its monthly new conventional mortgage loans was an estimated $8.7 billion, an increase from April and the high- est figure in the last year. In addition, MICA members reported 23,687 defaults and 18,397 cures during the month, a cure-to- default ratio of 77.7 percent. This is a decrease from a 91.6 percent ratio in April and triple-figure ratios from March and February (129.6 percent and 113.5 percent, respectively). Year-over-year, the ratio is down 2.9 percentage points, but both cures and defaults were at much higher totals. Statistics in MICA's report included data from Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corporation, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation, and Radian Guaranty Inc. SECONDARY MARKET ANALYTICS SERVICING ORIGINATION