Mortgage Closing Costs Up Six Percent to $2,539

NEW YORK, Aug. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Mortgage closing costs rose six percent over the past year and now average $2,539 on a $200,000 loan, according to Bankrate.com RATE. Origination fees increased nine percent to $1,877 and third-party fees rose one percent to $662.

Texas' average closing costs of $3,046 are the highest in the nation. Alaska ($2,897), New York ($2,892), Hawaii ($2,808) and Wisconsin ($2,706) round out the top five.

The cheapest closing costs are in Nevada (an average of $2,265). Tennessee ($2,366), Missouri ($2,387), Ohio ($2,392) and Washington, D.C. ($2,402) comprise the rest of the bottom five.

"New mortgage regulations are the biggest reasons why closing costs went up over the past year," said Holden Lewis, senior mortgage analyst, Bankrate.com. "The good news is that some lenders have not increased fees. To get the best deal, consumers should compare good faith estimates from at least three different lenders."

Click here to view the average closing costs in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.:

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/closing-costs/closing-costs-by-state.aspx

Bankrate surveyed up to 10 lenders in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. in June 2014. Researchers obtained online good faith estimates for a $200,000 mortgage to buy a single-family home with a 20 percent down payment. Costs include fees charged by lenders, as well as third-party fees for services such as appraisals. The survey excludes taxes, title fees, property insurance, association fees, interest and other prepaid items.

About Bankrate, Inc.

Bankrate is a leading publisher, aggregator, and distributor of personal finance content on the Internet. Bankrate provides consumers with proprietary, fully researched, comprehensive, independent and objective personal finance editorial content across multiple vertical categories including mortgages, deposits, insurance, credit cards, and other categories, such as retirement, automobile loans, and taxes. The Bankrate network includes Bankrate.com, CreditCards.com and InsuranceQuotes.com, our flagship websites, and other owned and operated personal finance websites, including Caring.com, Interest.com, Bankaholic.com, Mortgage-calc.com, CreditCardGuide.com, Nationwide Card Services, CarInsuranceQuotes.com, InsureMe, CreditCards.ca, and NetQuote.com. Bankrate aggregates rate information from over 4,800 institutions on more than 300 financial products. With coverage of nearly 600 local markets in all 50 U.S. states, Bankrate generates over 172,000 distinct rate tables capturing on average over three million pieces of information daily. Bankrate develops and provides web services to over 80 co-branded websites with online partners, including some of the most trusted and frequently visited personal finance sites on the Internet such as Yahoo!, AOL, CNBC, and Bloomberg. In addition, Bankrate licenses editorial content to over 500 newspapers on a daily basis including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Boston Globe.

For more information:
Kayleen Yates
Senior Director, Corporate Communications
Bankrate, Inc.
kyates@bankrate.com
(917) 368-8677

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SOURCE Bankrate, Inc.