Title Insurance

Ownership risk

Title insurance covers the paperwork behind the house, not the house

An inspection looks at the building. An appraisal produces an opinion of value. Title work looks at something neither of those touches: the record of who has owned this land, who has lent against it, and who else might have a claim on it. Title insurance is the product sold against what that record misses. It is the only major closing line where we could not find a published national price of any kind.

Most closings involve a lender, and a lender sets its own title requirements. Among new homes sold in the second quarter of 2026, 72 percent were conventionally financed, 19 percent FHA and 5 percent VA, with just 3 percent cash¹, and on the existing-home side 25 percent of June 2026 transactions were cash sales². So for most buyers the first title question is not whether to buy a policy, it is which policies are quoted and who each protects.

The second thing to understand is that this is a resale market. Existing-home sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million in June 2026², against 628,000 for new single-family houses³. Most houses being sold have decades of owners, loans, liens and boundary changes behind them. The search is looking for the one that never got cleared.

Six things to settle before your closing date

None of these has a national number attached, which is exactly why you ask them in writing.

What is being insured

Not the roof, not the value. The subject is ownership: prior deeds, unreleased loans, judgments, easements and errors in the public record. Ask your settlement agent to explain, in one page, what the search covered and what it did not. That page is more useful than any premium comparison you will find online.

Which policy, and whose

Ask directly whether you are being quoted a lender's policy, an owner's policy, or both, and who is protected by each. They are separate products with separate prices. If a quote arrives as a single line called title, send it back and ask for it broken out before you agree to anything.

The lender has its own requirements

Financing dominates the market. Among new homes sold in the second quarter of 2026, 72 percent were conventional, 19 percent FHA, 5 percent VA and 3 percent cash¹. Your loan program brings its own conditions to the closing table, so ask your lender what title work it requires before you shop for it.

Cash closings still carry the risk

Cash was 25 percent of June 2026 transactions². With no lender there is nobody insisting on title work, but the ownership history does not improve because you paid cash. If you skip it, you are choosing to carry the risk yourself, and that should be a decision rather than an oversight.

Nearly every sale is a resale

Existing-home sales ran at 4.09 million a year in June 2026² against 628,000 new houses³. That ratio is the whole argument for a search. Even a new house sits on land with a prior owner and a construction history, so ask what a new-construction search covers in your state.

It is not inside the federal loan cost figure

The CFPB's loan cost measure is limited to buyer-paid charges connected with obtaining the loan, and its 2023 median for purchase loans was $6,684⁴. That figure is not a cash-to-close total, and no federal series publishes one. Whatever your title charges are, they are additional lines you have to collect yourself.

Title insurance premiumNo national source publishes one

CFPB median loan costs, 2023$6,684, buyer-paid only

What does it cost?

There is no honest national figure. We found no federal series and no non-aggregator source publishing title insurance premiums, and no consolidated table for the recording charges that sit next to them, which are set at state and county level. So treat every number you see online as unsourced until your own settlement agent puts one in writing. Ask for the quote itemized: the premium for each policy, the search, any endorsements, and the settlement or closing fee, which are four different things.

For placement, the one measured closing figure available is the CFPB's median total loan costs of $6,684 on 2023 home purchase loans, limited to buyer-paid portions on the Closing Disclosure and covering lender charges plus third-party charges connected with obtaining the loan⁴. There is no federal series for total cash to close. Your title charges belong on the worksheet you build yourself, alongside recording charges and any local transfer tax.

Loan costs are CFPB, from 2023 HMDA data, buyer-paid only. Financing shares are Census for the second quarter of 2026, sales rates are NAR and Census for June 2026. No title premium appears here because no source we could verify publishes one.

Hiring

How to hire for title and settlement work

1

Who does the work

Depending on your state, a title company, an independent settlement agent or a closing attorney runs the search, clears what it finds and issues the policy through an underwriter. Ask who is doing the search, which underwriter stands behind the policy, and who will be in the room at closing. Those can be three different organizations.

2

What pros will ask

Expect requests for the property address and parcel number, the purchase contract, the exact names of everyone taking title, any HOA details, and your lender's closing instructions. Give them anything you already know about liens, boundary disputes, inherited interests or unrecorded work on the property. Surprises found early are cheap. Surprises found the week of closing are not.

3

What to check before signing

Get the itemized quote and confirm which policies it includes. Ask what the policy does not cover, since exclusions are where the real answer lives. Ask whether you may choose the provider and how that changes the figure. Then check every title and recording line against your closing figures, because the CFPB measure does not cover them⁴.

Title questions, answered straight

What does title insurance actually protect against?

Problems in the ownership record rather than problems with the building. Think unreleased mortgages, judgments against a prior owner, boundary and easement errors, missing heirs, or a filing mistake at the county. An inspection will never find those and an appraisal is not looking for them. Ask your settlement agent for a written summary of what the search covered and what the policy excludes, because the exclusions are the part that decides whether a claim is paid.

How much does title insurance cost?

We are not going to give you a number, because no federal series and no non-aggregator source we could verify publishes one, and neither do the sites that quote ranges. Recording charges sitting alongside it are set at state and county level with no consolidated table either. The only reliable figure is a written quote for your transaction, itemized into the premium for each policy, the search, endorsements and the settlement fee.

Do I need it if I am buying with cash?

Nobody will require it, and cash purchases are common: 25 percent of June 2026 transactions were cash sales². But the ownership history of the property is exactly the same whether or not a lender is involved, and with no lender there is also nobody else checking the record on your behalf. If you decline coverage, do it as a considered decision after reading the search, not by default because it was not demanded.

Is title insurance included in the $6,684 closing cost figure?

No. That CFPB figure is median total loan costs on 2023 home purchase loans, limited to buyer-paid portions on the TRID Closing Disclosure and covering lender charges plus third-party charges connected with obtaining the loan⁴. It was never built to be a cash-to-close total, and no federal series covers that total. Title charges, recording fees, transfer taxes and prepaid escrow are lines you have to gather from your own settlement agent and county.

The house is brand new. Is there still anything to search?

Yes, and the market makes the point for you. New single-family houses sold at an annual rate of 628,000 in June 2026³ while existing homes ran at 4.09 million², so most transactions are resales with long histories. Even a first sale involves land that had a prior owner and a build that involved contractors and permits. Ask your settlement agent what a new-construction search covers where you are buying.

Sources

Where these facts came from

Every figure on this page was read out of the page linked below. We do not cite cost aggregators.

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