D.C. has fifth lowest average closing costs in nation

Sophie Ho, special to wtop.com

WASHINGTON — D.C. may be one of the most expensive U.S. cities in which to live, but a new report by personal finance website Bankrate shows the District has the fifth lowest mortgage closing costs.

In the report, Bankrate requested good faith estimates for a $200,000 mortgage loan from up to 10 lenders in each state and D.C., with a hypothetical 20 percent down payment and good credit.

Closing costs are charged by lenders and third parties when a consumer gets a mortgage, such as fees to process credit card reports, inspection costs, underwriting fees or appraisal fees.

In general, the website found that mortgage closing costs jumped 6 percent over the past year, and now average at $2,539 on a $200,000 loan. D.C. ranked fifth lowest at $2,402.

Texas ranked first with the highest average closing costs at $3,406, while Nevada was the cheapest at $2,265.

But buyers should beware that their closing costs would likely be higher in real life. Not included in the report were title insurance, title search, taxes, other government fees or escrow fees.

Even more, the Office of the Chief Financial Officer predicted that the average sales price of a District home will hit $769,800 in 2014 — jumping to $813,600 in 2015. Currently, median single family home price in D.C. is around $600,000, while the average price is $713,000.

The full list is below.

Closing costs

2014
rank
State Lender’s
origination fees
Third-party
fees
Origination plus
third- party fees
1 Texas $2,280 $766 $3,046
2 Alaska $2,195 $703 $2,897
3 New York $2,109 $783 $2,892
4 Hawaii $2,009 $799 $2,808
5 Wisconsin $2,035 $671 $2,706
6 Nebraska $1,975 $679 $2,654
7 Vermont $1,979 $670 $2,649
8 Florida $1,982 $666 $2,648
9 New Hampshire $1,975 $666 $2,641
10 New Jersey $1,891 $733 $2,625
11 Alabama $1,967 $646 $2,613
12 North Carolina $1,887 $714 $2,602
13 North Dakota $1,936 $663 $2,599
14 Kansas $1,956 $625 $2,582
15 Louisiana $1,928 $652 $2,580
16 Rhode Island $1,931 $645 $2,576
17 Massachusetts $1,871 $693 $2,564
18 South Dakota $1,940 $623 $2,563
19 Mississippi $1,931 $629 $2,560
20 Oregon $1,896 $663 $2,559
21 Connecticut $1,885 $670 $2,555
22 California $1,881 $661 $2,542
23 Utah $1,889 $648 $2,537
24 Wyoming $1,890 $628 $2,518
25* West Virginia $1,805 $711 $2,516
25* Delaware $1,771 $745 $2,516
25* New Mexico $1,761 $755 $2,516
28 Pennsylvania $1,907 $603 $2,511
29 Oklahoma $1,908 $591 $2,498
30 Maine $1,854 $643 $2,497
31 South Carolina $1,786 $708 $2,494
32 Montana $1,796 $695 $2,491
33 Illinois $1,841 $640 $2,481
34 Virginia $1,840 $639 $2,479
35 Iowa $1,773 $675 $2,448
36* Idaho $1,800 $641 $2,440
36* Indiana $1,796 $644 $2,440
38 Minnesota $1,836 $619 $2,436
39 Colorado $1,817 $619 $2,436
40* Washington $1,830 $605 $2,435
40* Michigan $1,835 $600 $2,435
42 Georgia $1,766 $667 $2,433
43 Kentucky $1,790 $640 $2,430
44 Arizona $1,810 $615 $2,425
45 Arkansas $1,815 $605 $2,420
46 Maryland $1,836 $568 $2,404
47 District of Columbia $1,791 $612 $2,402
48 Ohio $1,707 $685 $2,392
49 Missouri $1,749 $638 $2,387
50 Tennessee $1,746 $620 $2,366
51 Nevada $1,570 $695 $2,265
         
  Average $1,877 $662 $2,539

*Denotes a tie

Bankrate.com surveyed up to 10 lenders in each state in July 2014 and obtained online good faith estimates for a $200,000 mortgage to buy a single-family home with a 20 percent down payment in the state’s largest city. Costs include fees charged by lenders, as well as third- party fees for services such as appraisals and credit reports. The survey excludes title insurance, title search, taxes, property insurance, association fees, interest and other prepaid items.

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