I do not think it looks to good for abstractors. The federal government is very concerned about the slowing economy and the impact of the housing slump resulting in a possible recession. Congress has signaled to Bush that it wants to address the problem through a revitalization package of legislation. Notwithstanding the rosy images of the economy painted by Bush in recent press conferences ...he is expected to address the issue more objectively in his state of the union speech. The Federal Reserve has also signaled that more interest rate cuts are in the works. However, I think it is going to be a while before we begin to see improvement.

In addition to the problems of reduced work from outsourcing which plagued the abstractors before the housing slump... the sub prime melt down has further reduced the market for their services with scores of lenders and title companies closing their doors.

The signing agents also seem to be feeling the pinch, but not to the degree experienced by the abstractors since outsourcing has not become much of an issue with them, and they are paid at a higher rate than the abstractors for their services. Their expenses seem to be lower also since they are not required to carry as much e&o insurance as the abstractors. They have less liability.

Oddly enough since refocusing on closings rather than abstracting the real estate end of my practice has seen an improvement in revenue this year even with the housing slump. Go figure.

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