American Land Title Association: Title Premium Volume Jumps 45% During Q1 2021

WASHINGTON, June 26 (TNSRes) -- The American Land Title Association issued the following news release:

The title insurance industry generated $5.68 billion in title insurance premiums during the first quarter of 2021 compared with $3.92 billion during the same period a year ago, according to ALTA's latest Market Share Analysis.

A strong purchase market and continued home appreciation helped drive the 44.8% premium volume increase compared to the first quarter of 2020. Total operating income was up 42.4%, while operating expenses were up 40.0%, and loss and loss adjustment expenses were down 11.9%. This resulted in net operating of $489.9 million, compared to $296.5 million for the first quarter of 2020, an increase of 65.2% and the highest first quarter ever.

The industry paid $106.7 million in claims during the first three months of 2021. This is down from $126.0 during the same period a year ago.

"The continuous increase in home appreciation combined with still-dipping mortgage interest rates and the tail end of the low refinance rates have produced a historic rise in title insurance premium volume," said ALTA CEO Diane Tomb. "Coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic, this rise in volume has helped ALTA members, most of which are small businesses, invest in their operations and more effectively serve their customers' needs."

Top 10 Underwriters by Market Share

* First American Title Insurance Co., 20.5%

* Old Republic National Title Insurance Co., 14.8%

* Chicago Title Insurance Co., 13.5%

* Fidelity National Title Insurance Co., 13.0%

* Stewart Title Guaranty Co., 8.2%

* Westcor Land Title Insurance Co., 6.8%

* WFG National Title Insurance Co., 3.2%

* Title Resources Guaranty Co., 2.3%

* North American Title Insurance Co., 2.0%

* Connecticut Attorneys Title Insurance Co., 1.0%

Top 5 States

* Texas: $686,034,555, +29.6%

* California: $642,719,660, +47.3%

* Florida: $569,487,049, +42.4%

* New York: $312,853,236, +17.4%

* Pennsylvania: $272,196,550, +72.0%

Analysis: https://www.alta.org/industry-research/