As David will discuss, Stewart's operating revenues are up almost $240 million or 40% from last year.
And operating income was up over $30 million or 55% in a quarter in which the Mortgage Bankers Association forecasts have purchase originations down 12% year-over-year and overall mortgage originations down 25%.
On the -- of the top people at Stewart, what we call our senior leadership team, 50% are new or have been promoted.
For the third quarter of 2021, Stewart yesterday reported net income of $89 million and diluted earnings per share of $3.26 on total operating revenues of $830 million.
Compared to last year, total title revenues for the quarter increased $205 million or 37% due to solid results from our residential agency and commercial operations.
The title segment generated pre-tax income of $119 million, which is $37 million higher than last year's quarter as a result of this revenue growth and continued management focus.
Pretax margin for the segment also improved 90 basis points to 15% compared to last year.
With respect to our direct title business, residential revenues increased $55 million or 23%, driven by higher purchase transactions and improving scale.
Residential fee per file was approximately $2,400, a 24% improvement compared to last year's average fee per file due to a higher purchase mix.
Domestic commercial revenues improved $28 million or 76% due to increased transaction volume and higher average fee per file, which was $15,400 versus $9,700 in last year's quarter.
Total international revenues increased $17 million or 49%, primarily due to improved volumes in our Canadian operations.
Total opened and closed orders in the third quarter decreased 13% and 3% respectively due to lower refinancing transactions consistent with the market trend.
However, commercial and purchase closed orders increased 11% and 8% respectively compared to the third quarter of 2020.
In line with our direct title business, agency operations generated a strong quarter, with revenues improving 42% to $402 million versus $283 million last year.
The agency remittance rate for the third quarter was 17.9% compared to 18.2% last year.
On a year-to-date basis, it was 17.8% for both '21 and '20.
On title losses, total title loss expense increased $2 million or 7% primarily as a result of higher title revenues, partially offset by favorable claims experience.
As a percentage of title revenues, the title loss expense in the third quarter was 4% compared to 5% in the prior year quarter.
Employee costs as a percentage of operating revenues improved to 24% from 26% last year, while other operating expenses increased to 18% from 17% last year primarily due to increased pass-through appraisal and service costs.
At that point, the company had $85 million in run rate revenues and a 15%-plus pre-tax margin, with new customers to be onboarded and a good pipeline of future business that should grow both the top and bottom line going forward.
Our total cash and investments on the balance sheet are approximately $585 million over regulatory requirements, and we had about $74 million on our existing line credit facility.
Stockholders' equity attributable to Stewart increased to $1.2 billion at September 30, 2021, with a book value of approximately $45 a share.
Lastly, net cash provided by operations for the third quarter increased to $107 million compared to $91 million from last year's quarter.

Summary:
For the third quarter of 2021, Stewart yesterday reported net income of $89 million and diluted earnings per share of $3.26 on total operating revenues of $830 million.