Source: Housing Wire —
The American Land Title Association saw a nearly 36% year-over-year increase in title insurance premium volume in 2021 for a staggering $7 billion spike, according to the trade group’s Market Share Analysis, published Friday.
The title insurance industry generated $26.2 billion in premiums last year compared to $19.2 billion in 2020, an increase that ALTA attributed to historic mortgage origination activity and the substantial increase in home values. Despite such explosive increases during those years, the focus in early 2022 seems to be how long it will last and to what extent title insurance premiums might normalize under radically changing economic conditions.
“Incredibly low mortgage rates (led) to an unprecedented increase in real estate transactions and substantially higher home values,” Diane Tomb, the CEO of ALTA said in a statement. “Those factors — caused in part by the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic — contributed to the record title insurance premium volume, which the title industry won’t see again soon. The majority of title professionals were busier in 2021 than they ever have been.”
