STEVE INSKEEP, host: Let's look a little more closely now at what's happening in the housing market. Suppose you were lucky enough to get a loan from a bank, and you get a good deal on your new house. There are still closing costs on top of the sale price: inspection fees, title costs, dozens of other items which can add thousands of dollars to the price of a house or a condo.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: A new survey by Bankrate.com says those costs are rising fast.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: Here's NPR's Jim Zarroli.</s>JIM ZARROLI: The survey says the average closing costs for a mortgage - costs like title insurance and building inspection fees - have risen from about $2,700 to more than $3,700 over the past year. New York, Texas and California have the highest fees; and Arkansas, the lowest. Bankrate's Holden Lewis says the increase is partly caused by new regulations imposed on lenders by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.</s>Mr. HOLDEN LEWIS (Journalist, Bankrate.com): Lenders hire someone to check to make sure that you have a job. Lenders have to conduct at least two credit checks nowadays: once when you apply, and right before closing. All of these things are applying, basically, to every new loan, and so their costs have gone up.</s>JIM ZARROLI: Lewis says the jump in closing costs may not be as big as the survey suggests. In the past, lenders often low-balled estimated costs before the closing date. But new regulations put in place by the Bush administration required lenders to give a more accurate estimate, and that's reflected in the survey. But Lewis says there is no question that actual costs have gone up, as well.</s>JIM ZARROLI: Jim Zarroli, NPR News, New York.
A new survey by bankrate.com says mortgage closing costs have spiked across the country. The survey says the average closing costs for a mortgage — like title insurance and building inspection fees — have risen from about $2,700 to more than $3,700 over the past year.