All Posts tagged Mortgage closing costs

It’s good news in Palm Desert that Federal regulations are helping to significantly reduce the amount new homebuyers pay for closing costs.  That’s another incentive for prospective buyers – especially those who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for the right time to jump back into home ownership again.

The average cost of closing on a mortgage has fallen over the past year by 7.4% according to a recent survey by Bankrate.com.  As of the end of June, a homebuyer looking to close on a $200,000 mortgage with 20% down paid an average of $3,754 – which was $300 less 12 months earlier.

Included in these costs are origination expenses (such as application fees and the cost of doing credit checks) and third-party fees (such as those paid for title searches and insurance).

Attribute this decline to new regulations that requiring lenders to be more accurate when estimating closing costs for borrowers.  The regulation  was put into place 2 years ago as part of the Real Estate Settlement Practices Act and requires lenders to provide a “good faith estimate” of third-party fees that is within 10% of the actual amount the buyer will pay.

Third party fees dropping is actually indicates that the lenders are doing a better job at estimating what the actual costs will be.

How refreshing !!!