The number of delinquent mortgage claims declined at MGIC Investment Corp. ($6.03 -0.1%) during the month of December.

During the same period, the private mortgage insurer wrote $2.2 billion in new mortgage insurance. The firm started the month with 143,153 loans in its delinquent inventory. Over the 31-day period, 10,314 new delinquent notices came in, 10,150 loans were cured, 3,297 insured loans were paid off and 175 became subject to rescission or denial.

By the end of December, the company's delinquent inventory had shrunk by more than 3,000 claims to 139,845 loans, according to MGIC data.