As

existing
home
sales
dropped
to
the
lowest
level
it
has
seen
in
nearly
three
decades

in
2023,

title
insurance
premium
volume
also
took
a
hit.
In
2023,
the
title
insurance
industry
generated
$15.1
billion
in
title
insurance
premiums,
a
31%
annual
drop,
according
to
the


American
Land
Title
Association’s
 Market
Share
Analysis,
released
Tuesday.

In
2022,
the
title
industry
generated
$21
billion
in
premiums.
ALTA
attributed
the
drop
in
premium
volume
to
a
decrease
in
mortgage
originations.

“While
the
lack
of
supply
and
high
mortgage
rates
continue
to
hinder
home
sales
and
refinances,
title
professionals
continue
to
serve
their
customers,
protecting
property
rights
and
supporting
their
communities,”

Diane
Tomb,
ALTA’s
CEO,
said
in
a
statement.

 Even
as
title
premium
volume
dropped
in
2023,
the
amount
the
industry
paid
out
in
claims
rose,
jumping
from
$596
million
in
2022
to
$638
million
in
2023.

The
five
states
with
the
largest
title
premium
volumes
in
2023
were
Texas
($2.26
billion),
Florida
($1.92
billion),
California
($1.30
billion),
New
York
($899.90
million),
and
Pennsylvania
($596.40
million).
The
same
five
states
held
the
top
spots
in
in
2022.

All
five
states
recorded
year-over-year
decreases
in
title
premiums
in
2023,
with
New
York
recording
the
largest
yearly
drop
at
34.0%,
and
Florida
recording
the
smallest
annual
drop
at
28.8%.

Top
underwriters
for
the
quarter
by
market
share
included First
American
Title
insurance
Co. with
22.0%; Old
Republic
National
Title
Insurance
Co. with
15.2%; Fidelity
National
Title
Insurance with
13.4%; Chicago
Title
Insurance
Co. with
13.0%; 
and Stewart
Title
Guaranty
Co. with
9.2%.

However,
it
should
be
noted
that
Chicago
Title
is
part
of
Fidelity.
With
26.4%
of
the
market,
it
was
again
the
largest
firm
by
share
of
premiums
written
during
the
third
quarter
of
2023.

In
the
third
quarter
of
2023,
First
American’s
market
share
was
21.6%,
while
Old
Republic’s
was
14.9%,
Fidelity’s
was
26.6%
and
Stewart’s
was
9.0%.
Stewart
has
been
looking
to
reclaim
some
of
the
title
premium
it
lost
in
recent
years.
The
firm’s
market
share
was
10.62%
as
recently
as 2019.

Rounding
out
the
top
10
for
Q3
2023
were Westcor
Land
Title
Insurance
Co. with
3.8%
of
the
market,
putting
it
in
sixth
place. Commonwealth
Land
Title
Insurance
Co. had
3.4%, Title
Resources
Guaranty
Co. had
3.1%, WFG
National
Title
Insurance
Co. had
2.5%
of
the
market
share,
and Doma
Title had
2.0%.

The
same
five
firms
rounded
out
the
top
10
during
the
second
quarter
of
the
year.

Although
the
Big
Four
still
command
the
overwhelming
majority
of
the
market
with
a
combined
market
share
of
69.8%,
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
30.2%
in
2023.

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