WASHINGTON – Nationwide, 60,911 defaults were reported in February among homeowners with privately-insured mortgages, 11.7 percent fewer than in January, according to the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America.

Compared with the same month a year ago, the number of insured borrowers at least 60 days behind on their loans rose 38.1 percent, in what Bloomberg News called the 14th consecutive month of year-over-year increases. But MICA members also reported 47,933 mortgage “cures” – loans no longer in default – among insured borrowers in February, an increase of 35.1 percent from January and 12.8 percent from February 2007.

Meanwhile, the number of borrowers relying on private mortgage insurance to help them buy or refinance a home rose to 139,077, an increase of 9.2 percent from January and 17.6 percent from February 2007, MICA said. And the number of PMI applications filed amounted to 152,796, an increase of 10.2 percent from January and 24.2 percent from February 2007.

“Without question, in 2008 these companies are going to lose money,” Michael Grasher, an analyst who tracks mortgage insurers for Piper Jaffray & Co. in Chicago, told Bloomberg news. Still, Grasher added, “We’ll likely see better statistics in the months ahead because of government intervention.”

The MICA report is based on data from member companies AIG United Guaranty, Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp., Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. and Triad Guaranty Insurance Corp.

The Mortgage Insurance Companies of America is a trade group for the private mortgage insurance (PMI) industry. To learn more, visit www.PrivateMI.com.