News By Edition

With a new federal real estate transaction reporting rule set to take effect March 1, 2026, it is essential for title insurance and settlement services companies to become familiar with the large amount of additional information they will need to gather. Charles Wismer, CEO with Advalis, which is the parent company of both FincenFetch and fincenrealestatereport.com, recently spoke with The Title Report about issues that title professionals should keep in mind. Read on to learn more.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Fidelity National Financial Inc.’s title insurance subsidiaries’ Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) ratings at 'A' (Strong) and affirmed FNF’s holding company's Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘BBB+.’ Read on to learn more.

The title insurance industry generated $4.5 billion in title insurance premiums during the second quarter of 2025, according to the American Land Title Association’s (ALTA’s) latest Market Share Analysis. This compared to $4.1 billion during the same period a year ago. Read on to find out more.

First National Title Insurance Co. announced the addition of a 35-year-plus real estate and title law veteran to its underwriting counsel team. Read on to learn more.

ACES Quality Management (ACES) announced the launch of ACES Intelligence, which uses artificial intelligence to help customers improve quality, speed and efficiency by enhancing loan reviews, selection and compliance. Read on to learn more.

This past summer was the strongest buyer’s market on record, according to a new report from Redfin. Read on to learn more.

Compass Inc. and Anywhere Real Estate Inc. announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement. The combined company is expected to have an enterprise value of approximately $10 billion, including more than $1 billion in revenue from Anywhere’s franchise, title and escrow, and relocation operations. Read on to learn more.

When a person acts on inspiration, amazing things can happen. Jaime Johnson, director of WFG Agent 3.0, demonstrated this concept by founding WFG’s Women at the (Closing) Table group, which she discussed with October Research Chief Knowledge Officer Mary Schuster.

First American Data & Analytics’ August 2025 Home Price Index report showed home prices declined somewhat from July to August, while yearly house prices are appreciating at the slowest rate since February 2012. Read on to learn more.

CATIC has introduced a new version of CATIC Connections that company leaders say is designed to help simplify and enhance the daily business operations of CATIC agents and business partners. Read on to learn more.

: Active listings of homes for sale fell 1.4 percent month-over-month in August — the largest seasonally-adjusted decline since June 2023, according to a report from Redfin. Read on to learn more.

: America’s homes are now worth a record $55.1 trillion, a $20 trillion jump since the eve of the pandemic, according to a recent Zillow analysis. Read on to find out more.

A First American senior economist told The Title Report the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates could be a first step toward boosting the housing market. Read on to learn more.

Radian Group Inc. announced it is buying Inigo Limited, a Lloyd’s specialty insurer, for $1.7 billion, and that it also plans to sell its title operation by the end of the third quarter of next year. The primarily all-cash transaction to acquire Inigo will be funded from Radian’s available liquidity sources and excess capital from its subsidiaries. Meanwhile, the planned divestiture of its mortgage conduit, title and real estate services businesses was approved by Radian’s Board of Directors. Read on to learn more.

A pair of industry experts dive into the details of FinCEN’s new residential real estate reporting rule taking effect in December.

FirstClose expanded its sales organization with the hiring of four sales professionals. Read on to learn more.

NotaryCam announced it is partnering with a mortgage subservicer and a Texas-based law firm offer remote online notarization services for loan modification agreements. Read on to learn more.

The median home-sale price rose 2.2 percent year-over-year during the four weeks ending Sept. 14, the biggest increase in five months, according to a Redfin report. Read on to learn more.

Everyone appreciates when a real estate transaction goes smoothly, whether you are a lender, a title agent or a homebuyer. Industry experts from both the title and lending sectors recently spoke on how to optimize bank-title partnerships.

Fitch Ratings has affirmed the financial strength for title insurance subsidiaries belonging to First American Financial Corp. Fitch affirmed First American’s title insurance subsidiaries’ Insurer Financial Strength (IFS) ratings at 'A' (Strong) and said its rating outlook is stable.

Harold Poltrock, Esq., founder of the Law Offices of Harold J. Poltrock, and Conrad McLean have announced the launch of Attorneys Title, a specialized title company created by attorneys, for attorneys. Attorneys Title is licensed in New Jersey and New York, with plans to expand into Florida. Read on to learn more.

Blue Sage Solutions announced the early release of its new AI Sales Agent, a voice- and text-enabled assistant built into its digital lending platform. Read on to learn more.

A total of 78,621 single-family homes and condominiums were flipped in the second quarter, which was 7.4 percent of home sales. That’s down by almost 1 percent from the first quarter, according to ATTOM. Read on to find out more.

The number of Canadian Redfin.com users searching for homes to buy or rent in the U.S. dropped 19.5 percent year-over-year in August, according to a new report from Redfin. Read on to learn more.

Closinglock announced the purchase of payoff retrieval software that utilizes artificial intelligence from Viking Sasquatch. With this move, Closinglock has introduced automated, insured payoff retrieval that makes a process that once took up to 75 minutes per file take only seconds. Read on to learn more.

Property rights can be a contentious issue. But what happens when one of the parties claiming ownership of a piece of real estate is the federal government? This is the saga George Foote, Esq., long-time general counsel at the U.S. Institute of Peace, discussed with October Research Chief Knowledge Officer Mary Schuster during an episode of the Keys to Real Estate podcast.

WFG’s Stan Czaja and Orrick’s James Chou spoke on the regulatory environment, evolving threat landscape and other factors impacting today’s cybersecurity policy.

: National Integrity Title Agency selected an industry professional with 20-plus years of experience to serve as an account executive. Read on to find out more.

Tavant announced a strategic partnership with Snapdocs. Through this collaboration, the Snapdocs eClosing platform will integrate with Tavant’s FinConnect, giving lenders connectivity across their entire tech stack. Read on to learn more.

ATTOM’s August 2025 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows there were 35,697 properties with foreclosure filings, a 1 percent decline from July, but an 18 percent increase from last year. Read on to find out more.