New York Named Most Expensive State to Close on a Home as Costs Rise Across US

Texas falls to second most expensive according to Bankrate.com's 2010 Closing Costs Survey

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Aug 16, 2010, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Aug. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A new study released by Bankrate, Inc. reveals that the costs associated with buying a home may are on the rise. Bankrate's 2010 Closing Costs Survey reveals that the average origination and title fees on a $200,000 mortgage this year totaled $3,741, up from $2,732 in 2009. The full results of the study can be seen here: http://www.bankrate.com/finance/mortgages/2010-closing-costs/.

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In the study's geographical breakdown, New York leads the nation at an average fee of $5,623, with Texas, Utah, San Francisco, and Los Angeles rounding out the top five. Arkansas is the least expensive area with an average fee of $3,007, replacing Nevada, now number 34, at the bottom of the list.

One of the reasons for such a dramatic rise in the average estimated closing costs across the nation has to do with new regulations implemented in January of this year. When providing a potential borrower a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) of costs, regulations now require lenders to provide a Title and Closing Fee estimate within 10 percent of what the final cost will be; in previous years, estimates could fall lower on the spectrum without penalty for the lender.

"The big rise in average closing costs may scare some homebuyers, but it's important to keep things in perspective," said Greg McBride, CFA, senior financial analyst for Bankrate.com. "Increased regulation on lenders' GFEs means more accurate estimates and less expenses popping up for consumers on the back end."

For this study, Bankrate surveyed one area in 49 states, two areas in California (Los Angeles and San Francisco) and the District of Columbia. Researchers picked a ZIP code in some of the largest cities in each state and requested information on the closing costs for at $200,000 loan. They requested fees on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage for a borrower with a 20 percent down payment and good credit to buy a single-family house. Bankrate's survey includes lenders' origination fees and title and settlement fees, and not taxes or prepaid items.


2010	2009	State or city	Origination	Title and Closing	Total
1	2	New York	$2,015	$3,608	$5,623
2	1	Texas	$1,539	$3,169	$4,708
3	16	Utah	$1,431	$3,174	$4,605
4	4	California - San Fran	$1,386	$3,181	$4,566
5	14	California - Los Angeles	$1,419	$2,987	$4,406
6	6	Alaska	$1,936	$2,391	$4,327
7	8	Oklahoma	$1,352	$2,902	$4,254
8	7	Pennsylvania	$1,340	$2,897	$4,236
9	28	New Jersey	$1,338	$2,772	$4,110
10	27	Idaho	$1,365	$2,711	$4,077
11	18	Massachusetts	$1,548	$2,477	$4,025
12	3	Florida	$1,237	$2,751	$3,987
13	9	Ohio	$1,446	$2,540	$3,985
14	42	Rhode Island	$1,989	$1,983	$3,972
15	39	Arizona	$1,437	$2,514	$3,950
16	34	Wyoming	$1,460	$2,462	$3,922
17	38	Minnesota	$1,403	$2,517	$3,920
18	23	Louisiana	$1,491	$2,406	$3,897
19	15	Virginia	$1,528	$2,355	$3,883
20	19	Michigan	$1,424	$2,380	$3,804
21	11	North Dakota	$1,515	$2,285	$3,800
22	41	DC	$1,363	$2,322	$3,685
23	35	Delaware	$1,401	$2,248	$3,649
24	20	West Virginia	$1,421	$2,216	$3,637
25	51	Kansas	$1,453	$2,161	$3,615
26	45	Nebraska	$1,529	$2,079	$3,608
27	10	Washington	$1,452	$2,154	$3,607
28	31	Georgia	$1,402	$2,201	$3,604
29	26	South Carolina	$1,366	$2,155	$3,522
30	30	Alabama	$1,529	$1,983	$3,512
31	43	Illinois	$1,422	$2,083	$3,505
32	12	Tennessee	$1,450	$2,033	$3,483
33	13	New Mexico	$1,401	$2,079	$3,480
34	52	Nevada	$1,248	$2,223	$3,471
35	50	Indiana	$1,452	$2,013	$3,465
36	21	Hawaii	$1,303	$2,139	$3,442
37	49	Maine	$1,456	$1,976	$3,432
38	40	Maryland	$1,481	$1,921	$3,402
39	24	Connecticut	$1,408	$1,983	$3,391
40	48	Vermont	$1,483	$1,889	$3,372
41	29	Colorado	$1,449	$1,917	$3,366
42	32	South Dakota	$1,458	$1,905	$3,363
43	36	New Hampshire	$1,533	$1,825	$3,358
44	47	Missouri	$1,344	$2,012	$3,356
45	44	Kentucky	$1,448	$1,893	$3,341
46	25	Mississippi	$1,480	$1,855	$3,335
47	5	Oregon	$1,450	$1,883	$3,333
48	22	Wisconsin	$1,491	$1,812	$3,303
49	33	Montana	$1,409	$1,890	$3,298
50	37	Iowa	$1,477	$1,784	$3,261
51	46	North Carolina	$1,476	$1,779	$3,255
52	17	Arkansas	$1,466	$1,542	$3,007

About Bankrate, Inc.

The Bankrate network of companies includes Bankrate.com, Interest.com, Mortgage-calc.com, Nationwide Card Services, Savingforcollege.com, Fee Disclosure, InsureMe CreditCardGuide.com, Bankaholic, CreditCards.com and NetQuote. Each of these businesses helps consumers to make informed decisions about their personal finance matters. The company's flagship brand, Bankrate.com is a destination site of personal finance channels, including banking, investing, taxes, debt management and college finance. Bankrate.com is the leading aggregator of rates and other information on more than 300 financial products, including mortgages, credit cards, new and used auto loans, money market accounts and CDs, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees. Bankrate.com reviews more than 4,800 financial institutions in 575 markets in 50 states. Bankrate.com provides financial applications and information to a network of more than 75 partners, including Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO), America Online (NYSE: AOL), The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (NYSE: NYT). Bankrate.com's information is also distributed through more than 500 newspapers. Bankrate, Inc. was acquired by Apax Partners, one of the world's leading private equity investment groups, in September 2009. Apax operates across the United States, Europe and Asia and has more than 30 years of investing experience. For more information on Apax, visit: www.Apax.com.