Big title insurers book a strong income in Q1 2025

First American

First American reported strong results of the first quarter, led by an increase of 29% on an annual basis of the income of commercial real estate and a rebound in title insurance activity.

“The commercial side of the company, which started to fall in the second half of 2022, is a meaningful improvement,” said CEO Mark Seaton. “Commercial volume began to pick up in the second half of last year, and the momentum will take place in 2025.”

Seaton added that although broader economic uncertainty about rates, interest rates and inflation can delay some deals, First American is well positioned to endure a storm.

He noted that although the living side of the company remains historically weak, it is bottom.

“Real estate goes in Cycli, and we are at the start of the next cycle,” Seaton said. “I believe that residential original has hit a bottom, and now we can debate the path and pace of growth.”

The adapted before tax margin of the first American in the titles segment improved to 7.9%, an increase of 4.8% a year earlier, reinforced by a stronger order volume and commercial prices.

Investment revenues rose by 18% to $ 138 million, largely on higher revenues, while agent premiums, which are reported on a delay, rose by 16%.

Seaton, who recently entered the CEO Rol after the departure of Ken Dorgio, emphasized his trust in the long term in the direction of the company.

“I have been part of the first American family for almost 20 years and it is an honor to serve the company as a CEO,” he said. “Given our extraordinary people and unique competitive benefits, I am firmly convinced that our best days still have to come.”

Fidelity National

The title insurance activities of Fidelity saw a double digits in sales and adapted income.

The company’s title segment generated $ 1.8 billion in sales in Q1 2025, an increase of $ 1.7 billion in the same period last year. Excluding market -related profits and losses, sales increased by 12%, powered by profits on residential, commercial and refinancing transactions.

Adapted before tax income for the title department $ 211 million, a considerable jump of $ 171 million in Q1 2024. Fidelity also placed an adapted title margin before tax of 11.7%, an increase of 10.7% a year ago.

“Our improved margin is proof of our employees, as well as the operational efficiency that we have achieved in recent decades through investments in technology,” said Fidelity CEO Mike Nolan.

Nolan added that Fidelity’s long -term investments are bearing fruit due to strong performance in a period of historically low transaction volumes.

“We continue to generate strong free cash flows during this period, so that we can maintain a strategy for dynamic capital allocation that invests in growth with recurring capital by dividends and back purchase,” he said.

The turnover of the commercial title increased by 23% to $ 293 million, while the refinance volume year after year 33% increased.

Old republic

The title insurance segment of Old Republic achieved double -digit growth for premiums in Q1 2025 and higher business income.

The net premiums and reimbursements that were earned in title rose from January to March to $ 605 million – an annual increase of 10.9%. That was powered by a jump of 27% in commercial title premiums and an increase of 11% in residential premiums.

The performance of the segment has contributed to the total net business income of $ 201.7 million – an increase of 9.2% compared to Q1 2024.

The title premiums produced through agency channels rose by 12%, while direct premiums grew by 6%. Commercial title activities accounted for nearly a quarter of the total net premiums mentioned, an increase of 21% in the same period last year.

But the company noted a decrease in reimbursement yields of direct activities, largely due to the recent sale of its software platforms for settlement and production software.

The old Republic saw that transaction partner with real estate technology company Jellyfishthat the company has taken over Ramquest And E-cloze Software solutions earlier this year.

“Technology remains of the utmost importance to guarantee smooth and secure real estate transactions,” said Carolyn Monroe, CEO of Old Republic Title.

“In our previous call from the fourth quarter, we emphasized the importance of reorienting our technological efforts to streamline business activities. In the first quarter we proudly announced our strategic partnership with Qualia.”

Monroe said that the move would enable the old Republic to modernize transaction processes during its title activities.

“By using the expertise of Qualia and the advanced infrastructure, which offer a modern digital transaction, we can equip our direct offices and title agents with advanced tools and solutions,” she said. “With this partnership, our internal tech teams can also re -assign our focus and resources to develop other crucial technologies that will help us thrive in a competing market.”

Stewart

Stewart title showed remarkable growth in its activities during the first quarter, also led by strong commercial business performance and expansion press in important markets.

The company reported $ 3.1 million to the net income for the quarter, unchanged compared to the same period in 2024. Adapted net income rose to $ 7 million, an increase of $ 4.6 million a year earlier.

“I am proud of our performance of the first quarter of 2025, because we have yielded strong sales results in all our segments and increase our total income compared to the first quarter of last year,” said Stewart CEO Fred Eppinger. “We are happy with our performance, because we could deliver these results while we navigate through a historically challenging macro environment.”

The Stewart title insurance segment achieved the operational turnover of $ 499.2 million, an increase of 11% year after year. Direct and agency activities saw improvements and title loss costs remained stable at $ 17.7 million.

The loss costs as a percentage of sales decreased to 3.5%, compared to 3.9% in the same quarter in 2024, which reflected what the company described as “general favorable claim experience”.

“Driven by thoughtful investments in talent while we deepen our capacities in both regions and activa classes, our domestic commercial activities grew by 39% in the first quarter of 2025 compared to Q1 of 2024,” Eppinger said.

Eppinger emphasized the continuous investments of the company in local growth and acquisitions as a strategic priority.

“In our direct activities we remain focused on growth in our target MSAs,” he said. “We expect acquisitions to be an important part of our Growing Plan in this company and maintain a more robust pipeline of goals.”

The company also reported progress in its small commercial title activities.

“Although the company is influenced by a suppressed residential home market, we saw strong progress in our strategic priority of growing small commercial within our direct activities, because this quarter we saw a growth of 16% in that important segment,” Eppinger said.