The land title industry reported an operating loss of more than $332 million for the third quarter of 2008, a more than 30 percent decrease from its operating gain of $168.7 million during the same period of 2007, according to a report by the Washington, D.C.-based American Land Title Association (ALTA).

It is the 10th consecutive quarter that written title premiums have declined from the prior year’s equivalent quarter, and each drop has been greater than the previous quarter’s:
2007:
Q3: Down 15%
Q4: Down 22%
2008:
Q1: Down 26%
Q2: Down 28%
Q3: Down 30%
The ALTA report also indicates that the title industry still has a multi-billion dollar asset portfolio, including: – Admitted assets, those assets permitted by laws to be included in a company’s annual statement and are used to factor a company’s solvency, including mortgages, stocks, bonds, and real estate, of more than $9.5 billion, with more than $8 billion of that in cash and invested assets. – Statutory reserves, liabilities with unmatured obligations that companies are required to maintain on their balance sheets, in excess of $5.3 billion. – Statutory surplus, excess funds above the required amount for current policy reserves, including above-average investment interest, and mortality and expense savings, of nearly $2.6 billion.