Mortgage Closing Costs Fall Since Last Year

Washington, DC, Aug. 7, 2012 -- The average cost of closing on a mortgage has fallen by 7.4% over the past year thanks to new government regulations, according to a recent survey by Bankrate.com.

A homebuyer closing on a $200,000 mortgage with 20% down at the end of June paid an average of $3,754, $300 less than a year ago.

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

New regulations require lenders to be more accurate when estimating closing costs for borrowerst.