Fees charged for home loans rose in Hawaii this year, bucking a national trend, and are higher than in any other state, according to a survey from Bankrate Inc.
The survey said the average mortgage closing cost quote for a $200,000 loan in Hawaii was $2,163, up 4 percent from a year ago. The national average, meanwhile, declined 7 percent to $1,847.
Only two other states had an average fee total over $2,000: New Jersey at $2,094 and Connecticut at $2,033. The cheapest closing costs were in Ohio where the average was $1,613.
Bankrate’s data showed that third-party fees, such as the cost for an appraisal and other items, are the reason for Hawaii’s spot atop its survey. In the other component of Bankrate’s mortgage closing cost calculation, loan origination fees, Hawaii came in a little under the national average of $1,041 at $1,033.
COMPARING COSTS
Average home loan closing costs, based on a $200,000 loan with a 20 percent down payment:
MOST EXPENSIVE
Hawaii $2,163 |
New Jersey $2,094 |
Connecticut $2,033 |
West Virginia $1,971 |
Arizona $1,969 |
LEAST EXPENSIVE
Ohio $1,613 |
Idaho $1,682 |
Wyoming $1,689 |
Utah $1,697 |
Maine $1,727 |
Source: Bankrate Inc.
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The average third-party fee total in Hawaii was $1,130. That compared with a national average of $807. No other state had a figure above $1,000.
Bankrate suggested that consumers compare prices from at least three lenders. “Homebuyers have more say over closing costs than they think,” Holden Lewis, Bankrate’s senior mortgage analyst, said in a statement.
Bankrate’s survey obtained online good-faith estimates for a $200,000 loan to buy a single-family house with a 20 percent down payment. Up to 10 lenders in every state were surveyed in June.
The methodology for expressing the average closing cost excludes some of the most variable fees associated with obtaining a home loan, such as title fees and taxes, so the actual cost of a loan is higher. And of course home prices in Hawaii, where the median-priced condominium is about $350,000 and the median priced single-family house is about $675,000, mean that mortgage fee totals can be significantly higher.