ALTA: '03 Revs Tops for Title Insurers

A recent study indicates that last year was the strongest on record for title industry revenues, according to the American Land Title Association.Gross revenue totaled $16.56 billion for the industry, up 31% from that of the previous year, ALTA reported. The loss ratio (losses as a percentage of total operating income) was 4.0%, compared with 4.6% in 2002. Net income after taxes totaled $1.11 billion, compared with $558.6 million the year before. "This report proves what our members have been telling us: that in 2003 they were busier than they have been in years," said Richard McCarthy, ALTA's director of research. "No one could have predicted that consumers would refinance multiple times in six months or a year due to interest rates that continued to spiral downward to 40-year lows." The trade group can be found online at http://www.alta.org.