Title insurers started 2024 slowly, but Q2 premium volume rebounds

By Housing News

After
a
slow
start
to
the
year,
the

housing
market

picked
up
the
pace
during
the
second
quarter.
For
the

title
insurance

industry,
this
meant
an
uptick
in
title
insurance
premium
volume,
which
came
in
at
$4.09
billion
for
the
quarter,
according
to
the


American
Land
Title
Association

(ALTA)’s
Market
Share
Analysis
that
was
published
Thursday.

Second-quarter
volume
was
up
from
$3.35
billion
in

Q1
2024

and
$3.92
billion
in
Q1
2023.
Additionally,
the
industry’s
operating
income
was
up
3.5%.
Its
financial
position
remained
strong
with
total
assets
coming
in
at
$11.3
billion,
while
statutory
surplus
was
at
$5
billion
and
statutory
reserves
were
$5.6
billion.

Although
premium
volume
was
up,
the
industry
has
paid
off
more
in
claims
during
the
first
half
of
2024
than
in
the
first
half
of
2023.
In
the
first
six
months
of
this
year,
paid
claims
reached
$333.7
million,
compared
to
$331.7
million
for
the
same
period
in
2023.

“The
second
quarter
results
reflect
the
strength
and
adaptability
of
the
title
insurance
industry
as
the
housing
market
experiences

slowly
decreasing
mortgage
rates

after
peaking
in
October
2023,”
Diane
Tomb,
the
CEO
of
ALTA,
said
in
a
statement.
“Title
insurance
professionals
continue
to
play
a
critical
role
in

preventing
fraud

and
protecting
property
rights,
ensuring
secure
real
estate
transactions
in
this
evolving
market.”

The
five
states
with
the
largest
title
premium
volumes
in
2023
were
Texas
($606.882
million),
Florida
($525.727
million),
California
($378.486
million),
New
York
($227.496
million)
and
Pennsylvania
($152.409
million).
The
same
five
states
held
the
top
spots
in
the
first
quarter
of
2024.

All
five
states
posted
year-over-year
increases
in
volume
in
Q2
2024,
with
California
recording
the
largest
increase
at
5.5%
and
Texas
posting
the
smallest
at
2.1%.

Top
underwriters
for
the
quarter
by
market
share
included First
American
Title
insurance
Co.
 at
21.5%;  Fidelity
National
Title
Insurance
 at
15%; Old
Republic
National
Title
Insurance
Co.
 at
14.4%;

Chicago
Title
Insurance
Co.
 at
13.8%; and Stewart
Title
Guaranty
Co.
 at
8.7%.

Chicago
Title
is
part
of
Fidelity.
With
28.8%
of
the
market,
it
was
again
the
largest
firm
by
share
of
premiums
written
during
the
second
quarter
of
2024.

In
Q1
2024,
First
American’s
market
share
was
22.6%,
while
Old
Republic’s
was
14.2%,
Fidelity’s
was
26.7%
and
Stewart’s
was
9.9%.
Stewart
has
been
looking
to
reclaim
some
of
the
share
it
lost
in
recent
years.
The
firm’s
market
share
was
10.6%
as
recently
as 2019.

The
other
top
10
companies
for
Q2
2024
were Westcor
Land
Title
Insurance
Co.
 with
3.6%
of
the
market,

Commonwealth
Land
Title
Insurance
Co.

(3.5%), Title
Resources
Guaranty
Co.

(2.9%),

WFG
National
Title
Insurance
Co.

(2.6%)
and Doma
Title
 (1.8%).
The
same
five
firms
rounded
out
the
top
10
in
Q1
2024.

Although
the
Big
Four
still
command
the
overwhelming
majority
of
the
market
with
a
combined
market
share
of
73.4%,
their
collective
grip
is
not
what
it
once
was.
In
2019,
independent
title
underwriters
such
as
Westcor,
WFG
and
others
had
a
combined
market
share
just
shy
of
15%,
which
increased
to
26.6%
in
Q2
2024.

 

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