The
relative
stability
of
the

housing
market
in
the
first
quarter
of
2024
resulted
in
a
fairly
strong
quarter
for
the
title
insurance
industry.
According
to
the


American
Land
Title
Association
(ALTA)

Market
Share
Analysis
released
Thursday,
the
industry
generated
$3.35
billion
in
title
insurance
premiums
during
Q1
2024,
down
only
0.8%
year
over
year. 

In
comparison,
for

full
year
2023,
title
premium
volume
was
down
31%
annually. 

Although
title
premium
volume
is
still
declining,
ALTA
said
the
industry
remains
in
a
strong
financial
position.
It
noted
that
total
assets
were
roughly
$11.3
billion
for
the
quarter,
while
statutory
surplus
was
$5.1
billion
and
statutory
reserves
were
$5.7
billion. 

Additionally,
the
industry
paid
out
$161.1
million
in
claims,
down
from
$162.6
million
in
Q1
2023.

The
five
states
with
the
largest
title
premium
volumes
in
2023
were
Texas
($492.94
million),
Florida
($421.67
million),
California
($292.67
million),
New
York
($190.59
million)
and
Pennsylvania
($128.44
million).
The
same
five
states
held
the
top
spots
in
full
year
2023.

These
five
states
recorded
a
mixed
bag
of
year-over-year
results.
New
York
posted
a
10.6%
annual
decline,
followed
by
Texas
at
5.7%
and
Pennsylvania
at
3.6%.
Meanwhile,
Florida
remained
flat
year
over
year
and
California
posted
a
3.1%
annual
increase.

Top
underwriters
for
the
quarter
by
market
share
included First
American
Title
insurance
Co. at
22.6%; Old
Republic
National
Title
Insurance
Co. at
14.2%; Fidelity
National
Title
Insurance
at
13.9%; Chicago
Title
Insurance
Co. at
12.8%; and Stewart
Title
Guaranty
Co.
at
9.9%.

Chicago
Title
is
part
of
Fidelity.
With
26.7%
of
the
market,
it
was
again
the
largest
firm
by
share
of
premiums
written
during
the
first
quarter
of
2024.

In
2023,
First
American’s
market
share
was
22%,
while
Old
Republic’s
was
15.2%,
Fidelity’s
was
26.4%
and
Stewart’s
was
9.2%.
Stewart
has
been
looking
to
reclaim
some
of
the
share
it
lost
in
recent
years.
The
firm’s
market
share
was
10.62%
as
recently
as 2019,
and
this
is
the
closest
Stewart
has
gotten
to
its
2019
market
share
in
several
quarters. 

The
other
top
10
companies
for
Q1
2024
were Westcor
Land
Title
Insurance
Co. with
3.8%
of
the
market,
putting
it
in
sixth
place. Commonwealth
Land
Title
Insurance
Co. had
3.6%, Title
Resources
Guaranty
Co. had
2.8%, WFG
National
Title
Insurance
Co. had
2.5%
and Doma
Title
had
1.9%.

The
same
five
firms
rounded
out
the
top
10
in
2023.

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
Q1
2024.

Related