In the coronavirus era, mortgage forbearance is the watchword. But just how many loans will go that route? Will Ginnie Mae get swamped?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchased fewer loans with private MI coverage in the first quarter of 2020, although the market was up sharply from the same period last year. (Includes four data charts.)

As the economic crisis precipitated by the coronavirus heats up, residential lenders have tightened their underwriting guidelines.

Genworth will contribute $100 million to its private mortgage insurance unit in order to facilitate its acquisition by China Oceanwide.

It was mortgage market Armageddon this week, courtesy of the corona-virus. Lenders were knee-deep in refis but fears mounted regarding an expected spike in delinquencies and about nonbank liquidity. The feds issued a foreclosure moratorium on government and GSE loans.

Arch Mortgage Insurance retained its ranking as the top private MI in the business, but several of its competitors gained market share in 2019. (Includes two data charts.)

A tale of two MIs: Genworth and MGIC. Also: Mortgage monitoring in Puerto Rico.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae securitized $819 billion of insured loans in 2019, up 20% from the previous year. Insured agency refi business soared by 120% from 2018.

The stock market boomed in 2019 and mortgage stocks followed right along. Mortgage insurance equities had nice gains but the top performers were Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (Includes data chart.)