ClosingCorp: Average Closing Costs For Purchase Mortgages Increased 13.4% In 2021

CoreLogic’s ClosingCorp, a provider of residential real estate closing cost data and technology for the mortgage and real estate services industries, released its most recent Purchase Mortgage Closing Cost Report which showed that in 2021, the national average for mortgage closing costs for a single-family property were $6,905 including transfer taxes and $3,860 excluding transfer taxes. These amounts represent a 13.4% and 11.2% year-over-year increase, respectively.

Key Takeaways:

>>The average U.S. home price increased by more than $50,000 last year, while the average purchase closing costs increased by $818 including taxes and $390 excluding taxes.

>>Despite an increase in the absolute dollar amounts of closing fees, closing costs as a percentage of home sales prices were down slightly from 2020.

>>Average purchase fees as a percentage of the average sales price in 2021 were 1.81% compared to 1.85% in 2020 and when taxes are excluded, were 1.01%, down from 1.06% in 2020.

“As the mortgage industry comes off two years of record-low interest rates and red-hot consumer demand, lenders are now pivoting to address increasing headwinds from higher loan origination costs and lower origination volumes,” said Bob Jennings, executive, CoreLogic Underwriting Solutions. “The Mortgage Bankers Association recently reported lender origination costs show a 13.2% year-over-year increase, which corresponds closely to the 13.4% increase we are seeing on purchase mortgage closing costs. As the market tightens in 2022, it will be interesting to see how lenders and borrowers respond and how these key metrics move.”