Closing costs on a home sale excluding title insurance rose 6 percent year over year in June, averaging $2,402 on a $200,000 mortgage, according to an annual survey by financial rate comparison site Bankrate.com.
Lender origination fees drove the increase, jumping 8 percent to $1,730. Third-party fees for services such as appraisals and credit reports rose 1 percent to $672.
The state-by-state survey was based on online good-faith estimates from up to 10 lenders in a state, plus Washington, D.C., for a hypothetical $200,000 purchase loan for a single-family home in a state’s largest city with a 20 percent down payment and excellent credit, Bankrate.com said.
Bankrate.com acknowledged a borrower’s final closing costs would probably be higher than those in the survey findings because the survey did not take into account the most highly variable costs, including title insurance, title search, taxes, property insurance, association fees, interest, other government fees and escrow fees.
The five most expensive states were Hawaii, where closing costs averaged $2,919, followed by Alaska ($2,675), South Carolina ($2,658), California ($2,639) and New Mexico ($2,566).
The five least expensive states were Wisconsin, where closing costs averaged $2,119, followed by Missouri ($2,188), Kansas ($2,193), Michigan ($2,203) and Washington state ($2,208).
“It’s unlikely that you will move to Wisconsin solely to pay lower closing costs, but you should shop around and compare fees from different loan originators to make sure you get the best deal in your area,” said Polyana da Costa, senior mortgage analyst at Bankrate.com, in a statement.
Unlike last year’s survey, Bankrate.com’s 2013 survey did not include title insurance costs, and the site therefore recalculated its 2012 results and reranked states without title insurance. In 2012, the most expensive states were New York, Hawaii, Texas, Alaska and Wisconsin. The least expensive states were Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado and Washington state.
