Xactware , a wholly owned subsidiary of Insurance ServicesOffice specializing in property insurance, remodeling, andrestoration industries, recently released its 2006 Property Report,which highlights and analyzes industry trends from the pastyear.

According to a release by Xactware, the 2006 Property Report isdesigned to help professionals in claims, underwriting, mitigation,and other trades to better understand market pricing and its causesthrough statistics and analyses available only from Xactware . The2006 Property Report features such information as:

Materials that increased or decreased in price and the impactthese fluctuations had on claims costs.

The impact of rising fuel costs and which markets were affectedthe most.

Material and labor cost trends, including how the escalatingcost of certain materials affected the claims industry as awhole.

Detailed reports and analyses, such as claims handling, materialcosts, labor costs and key material costs.

The 2006 Property Report also details other pertinentinformation relating to the property and insurance industries,including the effects of the 2005 storm season on the industry as awhole. Rebuilding efforts were in full swing in 2006, and manyexpect the impact of those storms to carry into 2007.

The release also stated that the rising costs of materials alsohad a major impact in 2006, as the Property Report details. Carpet,which typically experiences a 3 to 5 percent increase annually,rose over 22 percent nationally in 2006 alone, resulting in asignificant impact on claims costs, as over 15 percent of allclaims involved the replacement of carpet.

"The 2006 Property Report not only provides insights about whathappened in the property industry in 2006, it also helps indicatewhat to expect in 2007," said Jim Loveland, Xactware president andCEO, in the release.

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