The national average closing costs for a single-family property in the first half of 2021 were $6,837 including taxes, a 12.3 percent year-over-year increase, according to an analysis by ClosingCorp.
The national average closing costs for a single-family property excluding taxes were $3,836, a 10.5 percent year-over-year increase, according to the company. Refinance closing costs increased marginally to $2,398, a 4.87 percent increase from 2020.
ClosingCorp said its calculations include lender’s title policy, owner’s title policy, appraisal, settlement, recording fees, land surveys and transfer tax.
CEO Bob Jennings said the mortgage industry is doing a good job keeping up with high demand and keeping down costs that are under its control.
“In the first half of 2021, buyers faced significantly higher home prices; in June, for example, the average national price hit a new high of $373,664, and in July leading home price indices registered their highest ever year-over-year gains,” he said in a release. “Although the average home price increased by nearly $45,000, the closing costs, excluding taxes, on that property only increased by $400. In fact, closing costs as a percentage of purchase prices declined this year, going from 1.06 percent of the transaction in 2020 down to 1.03 percent.”
According to ClosingCorp, the states with the highest average closing costs including taxes in 2021 were the District of Columbia ($30,352); Delaware ($17,831); New York ($17,582); Washington ($13,909); and Maryland ($12,056). The states with the lowest closing costs including taxes in 2021 were Missouri ($2,102); Indiana ($2,193); North Dakota ($2,321); Kentucky ($2,355); and Wyoming ($2,509).
ClosingCorp reported the states with the highest average closing costs excluding taxes were District of Columbia ($6,523); New York ($6,300); Hawaii ($5,976); California ($5,772); and Washington ($4,803). The states with the lowest closing cost excluding taxes were Arkansas ($2,071); Missouri ($2,102); Indiana ($2,193); Nebraska ($2,193), and Kentucky ($2,193).
“To get a better overall picture of what is actually going on in a market, we analyzed data on more than 1.9 million single-family purchase transactions that ran through our ClosingCorp Fees platform in the first half of this year,” ClosingCorp Chief Data Officer Dori Daganhardt said. “We are reporting ‘market-specific’ rates and fees not just network averages charged by the most active settlement services providers in each geographic area.”
The company’s report identified the core-based statistical areas (CBSA) with the highest average closing costs with taxes in 2021 as Easton, Md. ($19,475); Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. ($18,190); Key West, Fla. ($16,458); New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.J. ($16,420); and Salisbury, Md. ($16,032).
The CBSAs with the highest average closing costs without taxes are Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif. ($8,019); Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, Hawaii ($7,464); San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, Calif. ($7,398); San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. ($7,334) and Key West, Fla. ($7,256).
According to ClosingCorp, the CSBAs with the lowest average closing cost with and without taxes in 2021 are Fairfield, Iowa ($352/$135); Newport, Tenn. ($453/$174); Muscatine, Iowa ($735/$449); Miami, Okla. ($617/$474) and Macomb, Ill. ($624/$526.)
ClosingCorp identified the counties with the highest average closing costs with taxes in 2021 as New York County, N.Y. ($67,250); Kings County, N.Y. ($54,915); District of Columbia ($30,352); Queens County, N.Y. ($29,479), and Richmond County, N.Y. ($24,805). The counties with the highest average closing costs in 2021 without taxes are New York County, N.Y. ($10,086); Nassau County, N.Y. ($8,474); San Francisco County, Calif. ($8,323); Kings County, N.Y. ($8,275), and Orange County, Calif. ($8,262).