Housing Affordability Continues to Improve

WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Oct 01, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX News Network/ -- PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.,
the primary U.S. subsidiary of The PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE: PMI), today released
its Fall 2008 U.S. Market Risk Index(SM), which shows increases in
foreclosures and unemployment have significantly heightened the risk of future
home price declines. PMI's U.S. Market Risk Index(SM) ranks the nation's 50
largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) according to the likelihood that
home prices will be lower in two years.

Risk scores translate directly into an estimated percentage risk that home
prices will be lower in two years. The Fall 2008 Risk Index is based on
second-quarter Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) data. A
complete copy of the Fall 2008 PMI Economic and Real Estate TrendsSM (ERET)
report and an appendix that provides data for all 381 U.S. MSAs is available
at: http://www.pmi-us.com/eret.

The risk of future price declines rose by more than 10 percent in 16 of
the nation's top 50 MSAs, primarily in areas of the country that experienced
major increases in house prices during the housing boom. Only two
MSAs -- Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, MA and Boston-Quincy, MA -- saw their
risk decrease by more than one percent. Among the top 50 MSAs, 17 ranked in
the highest risk category and 16 of those were in California, Florida, Nevada,
and Arizona.

"The risk of future home price declines increased in 94 percent of all 381
MSAs in the country this quarter," said David Berson, PMI's Chief Economist
and Strategist. "The majority of these increases aren't statistically
significant, in many cases risk increased by less than ten percent, but risk
did increase by a significant amount -- as much as 30 percent or more -- in
some states and MSAs where foreclosures and unemployment increased
significantly."

The highest risk of future price declines remains in Fort
Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach, FL (99.5 percent), Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario, CA (99.5 percent), Orlando-Kissimmee, FL (99.4 percent),
Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL (99.3 percent), Tampa-St. Petersberg-Clearwater,
FL (99 percent). The areas with the lowest risk of price declines -- less than
one percent -- are in Fort Worth-Arlington, TX, Dallas-Plano-Irving, TX,
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX and Pittsburgh, PA.

Housing affordability also failed to improve this quarter, according to
PMI's proprietary Affordability Index(SM), which measures how affordable homes
are today in a given MSA relative to a baseline of 1995. An Affordability
Index score exceeding 100 indicates that homes have become more affordable
while a score below 100 means they are less affordable.

Across the nation, 40 percent of the nation's 381 MSAs showed increased
affordability; while 60 percent of all MSAs experienced declines in
affordability. Affordability remains challenged in 14 of the 17 MSAs with risk
scores in the highest risk ranks. Home prices in these areas will need to fall
further in order to move back in line with incomes before there will be
meaningful reductions in risk scores.

In addition to the PMI U.S. Market Risk Index showing the risk of price
declines, PMI's Fall 2008 ERET examines major changes in the mortgage
origination trends as well as the impact foreclosures and unemployment are
having on home prices in the second quarter of 2008.

                   PMI Fall 2008 PMI U.S. Market Risk Index

    Rank   MSA                                                         Score
    1      Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach; FL A          99.5
    1      Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario; CA                         99.5
    1      Orlando-Kissimmee; FL                                        99.4
    1      Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall; FL                                99.3
    1      Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater; FL                          99.0
    1      Las Vegas-Paradise; NV                                       98.5
    1      Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale; CA                          98.5
    1      Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine; CA                                 97.7
    1      Jacksonville; FL                                             97.5
    1      Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale; AZ                                  96.3
    1      Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville; CA                        96.3
    1      San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos; CA                            95.9
    1      Oakland-Fremont-Hayward; CA                                  94.4
    1      San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara; CA                           87.1
    1      Providence-New Bedford-Fall River; RI-MA                     72.4
    1      San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City; CA                     71.6
    3      Edison-New Brunswick; NJ                                     35.1
    3      Nassau-Suffolk; NY                                           29.4
    3      Washington-Arlington-Alexandria; DC-VA-MD-WV                 26.0
    3      Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News; VA-NC                   25.4
    4      Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn; MI                                 17.8
    4      Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington; MN-WI                      14.8
    4      Newark-Union; NJ-PA                                          14.4
    4      Baltimore-Towson; MD                                         10.1
    5      New York-White Plains-Wayne; NY-NJ                            9.8
    5      Boston-Quincy; MA                                             7.7
    5      Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills; MI                              7.3
    5      Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton; OR-WA                           6.4
    5      Chicago-Naperville-Joliet; IL                                 6.3
    5      Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta; GA                            3.5
    5      Seattle-Bellevue-Everett; WA                                  2.3
    5      Philadelphia; PA                                              2.1
    5      Cambridge-Newton-Framingham; MA                               1.6
    5      Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin; TN                  1.6
    5      Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor; OH                                   1.1
    5      St. Louis, MO-IL                                               <1
    5      Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis; WI                              <1
    5      Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord; NC-SC                              <1
    5      Cincinnati-Middletown; OH-KY-IN                                <1
    5      Denver-Aurora; CO                                              <1
    5      Columbus; OH                                                   <1
    5      Austin-Round Rock; TX                                          <1
    5      Kansas City; MO-KS                                             <1
    5      Indianapolis-Carmel; IN                                        <1
    5      Memphis, TN-MS-AR                                              <1
    5      San Antonio; TX                                                <1
           Pittsburgh; PA                                                 <1
    5      Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown; TX                                 <1
    5      Dallas-Plano-Irving; TX                                        <1
    5      Fort Worth-Arlington; TX                                       <1

About PMI's Economic & Real Estate Trends(SM) (ERET) and U.S. Market Risk
Index(SM)

The PMI Economic and Real Estate Trends (ERET) containing the U.S. Market
Risk Index is published quarterly by PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., a subsidiary
of The PMI Group, Inc. (NYSE: PMI). The Risk Index is a proprietary
statistical model that measures geographic house price risk by predicting the
probability that home prices in the nation's 381 largest metropolitan
statistical areas (MSAs) and metropolitan statistical area divisions (MSADs)
(as measured by the House Price Index from the Office of Federal Housing
Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO)) will be lower in two years. The PMI U.S. Market
Risk Index is based on data including the OFHEO House Price Index, labor
market statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the PMI
Affordability Index, which uses local per capita household income, home price
appreciation, and a blended mortgage rate to calculate the local share of
mortgage payment to income relative to its baseline year of 1995. The PMI U.S.
Market Risk Index scale ranges from one to 100 and translates to a percentage.
For example, a score of 50 indicates a 50 percent chance that home prices will
be lower in two years.

About PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. (PMI US), a subsidiary of The PMI Group, Inc.
(NYSE: PMI), provides residential mortgage insurance to mortgage lenders,
capital market participants, and investors throughout the United States. PMI
US is incorporated in Arizona, headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA, and licensed
in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin
Islands. By mitigating default risk, residential mortgage insurance expands
home ownership opportunities and assists financial institutions in reducing
the capital they are required to hold against low down payment mortgages. PMI
US is rated A+ by Standard and Poor's, Aa2 by Moody's, and A+ by Fitch. For
more information: http://www.pmi-us.com.

Cautionary Statement: Statements in this press release that are not
historical facts or that relate to future plans, events or performance are
'forward-looking' statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but
are not limited to, PMI's U.S. Market Risk Index, Affordability Index, and any
related discussion, and statements relating to future economic and housing
market conditions. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the following factors:
changes in economic conditions, economic recession or slowdowns, adverse
changes in consumer confidence, declining housing values, higher unemployment,
deteriorating borrower credit, changes in interest rates, or a combination of
these factors. Readers are cautioned that any statements with respect to
future economic and housing market conditions are based upon current economic
conditions and, therefore, are inherently uncertain and highly subject to the
changes in the factors enumerated above. Other risk and uncertainties are
discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, including our reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2007 and Form 10-Q's for the quarters ended March 31, 2008 and June 30, 2008.

SOURCE PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.

http://www.pmigroup.com

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