Title Business Rises, FNF on Top Again

Title insurance firms wrote $2.07 billion of new premiums in the first quarter, a 4% gain from the same period last year as the federal home buyer tax credit gave the business a boost. According to figures compiled by the American Land Title Association, Fidelity National Financial wrote more title policies than any other company, $763 million, giving it a 1Q market share of 37%. (FNF ended 2009 with a market share of 42%.) First American Title Insurance Group ranked second with $585 million (market share, 28%), followed by Stewart Title ($283 million/14% MS), and Old Republic ($217 million/11%). The states generating the most title insurance premiums during the first quarter of 2010 were California, Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania. ALTA said title insurers which do business in Canada saw a 57% increase in premiums written in the most recent quarter over the same period in 2009.