Closing Costs

Cash to close

One federal number exists, and it is narrower than you think

The number most buyers want is total cash to close, and no federal agency publishes it. What does exist is one measured figure: the CFPB reported median total loan costs on home purchase loans of $6,684 in 2023, up 12.2 percent from $5,954 in 2022¹. It is the most defensible closing cost number in circulation, and it is not the whole bill.

Read the definition, because it does most of the work. The measure is limited to buyer-paid portions of total loan costs on the TRID Closing Disclosure, covering lender charges plus third-party charges connected with obtaining the loan, to the extent the borrower pays them rather than a seller or another third party¹. Charges that are not connected with obtaining the loan, and charges a seller pays, fall outside it¹. No federal series covers total cash to close, which is the number people mean when they say closing costs.

So treat $6,684 as one line on your worksheet rather than the total. Two more verified facts change the arithmetic. About 56.6 percent of home purchase loans paid some discount points in 2023, at a median of $3,000¹, a large optional line people forget to count. And 25 percent of June 2026 transactions were cash sales², where CFPB loan costs do not arise at all.

Six pieces of the bill, and which are actually measured

Only the first two have a national figure behind them, which tells you where to ask harder.

Loan costs, the measured part

Median total loan costs on 2023 home purchase loans were $6,684, up 12.2 percent from $5,954 the year before¹. This is lender and loan-related third-party charges paid by the borrower¹. It is a national median across every loan size and market, so use it as a sanity check, not a forecast.

Discount points, the optional line

About 56.6 percent of home purchase loans paid some discount points in 2023, a 12.7 percent increase from 2022, at a median of $3,000¹. Worth carrying the CFPB's own caveat: the report does not analyze the effect of paying points on interest rate reductions or total loan costs¹.

What the federal figure leaves out

The measure counts only buyer-paid loan costs on the Closing Disclosure¹. Title insurance, transfer taxes, recording fees and prepaid escrow have no federal series we could verify, and none covers total cash to close. Anyone quoting an all-in national average built it themselves, so ask how.

Local charges, no national table

Transfer taxes and recording fees are set at state and county level, and our sources carry no consolidated table for them. That gap is one of the biggest swings between two otherwise identical deals. Ask your settlement agent for the schedule that applies in your county.

Your loan program changes the sheet

Among new homes sold in the second quarter of 2026, 72 percent were conventionally financed, 19 percent FHA, 5 percent VA and 3 percent cash³. Median prices differ by program too, at $430,700 conventional and $366,700 FHA³. Ask your lender to itemize for the exact program you are using.

The Closing Disclosure is the document

The CFPB built its figure from the TRID Closing Disclosure on applicable loans¹, which is the same document you will read before your own closing. Federal rules govern when you get it. Ask your lender to confirm the deadline in writing rather than trusting a day count from a blog.

Median loan costs, 2023 purchases$6,684, buyer-paid only

Total cash to closeNo federal series exists

What does it cost?

Start from the one measured figure and label it honestly. Median total loan costs on 2023 home purchase loans were $6,684, up 12.2 percent from 2022, limited to buyer-paid portions on the Closing Disclosure and covering lender charges plus loan-related third-party charges¹. Add discount points if you are paying them, at a 2023 median of $3,000 on the 56.6 percent of purchase loans that paid any¹. Then stop, because the federal data does.

The rest of your number comes from your own deal: the price, the county, the loan program, how much escrow gets funded up front, and what the seller agrees to cover. For scale, the median existing-home price was $440,600 in June 2026² and the Freddie Mac 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.69 percent in the week of 6 August 2026⁴, which is what makes the points question worth real money. Ask for an itemized sheet, every time.

Loan costs and points are from the CFPB's 2023 mortgage market report, built on 2023 HMDA data and covering buyer-paid loan costs only. Prices are NAR for June 2026, financing shares are Census for the second quarter of 2026, and the rate is Freddie Mac for the week of 6 August 2026. None of these is a total closing cost estimate.

Hiring

How to hire for a clean closing

1

Who does the work

Your lender produces the loan figures, and a settlement agent, title company or closing attorney handles the money, the documents and the recording. Which of those you use depends on your state, and the county recorder charges its own fees. Ask early who prepares your figures and who you call when one changes.

2

What pros will ask

Expect questions about the purchase price, your loan program, the closing date, the property address for tax proration, and whether the seller is contributing to your side. That last one matters, because the CFPB measure counts only charges paid by the borrower rather than by a seller or another third party¹. Answer it in writing.

3

What to check before signing

Compare the itemized charges to your quote, line by line, and ask about anything that moved. Check what the points are buying you, since 56.6 percent of 2023 purchase borrowers paid some and the CFPB does not analyze their effect on rates or total cost¹. Confirm the escrow amounts and who pays each transfer and recording charge.

Closing cost questions, answered straight

How much are closing costs on a house?

The only federal figure available is median total loan costs of $6,684 on 2023 home purchase loans, up 12.2 percent from $5,954 in 2022¹. That is buyer-paid loan costs on the Closing Disclosure, nothing more¹. Title insurance, transfer taxes, recording fees and prepaid escrow have no federal series we could verify, and none covers total cash to close. Anyone quoting a national all-in percentage is using a number no agency publishes, so ask them where it came from.

What exactly is included in that $6,684?

The CFPB defines it narrowly, and the definition is worth repeating. It is limited to the buyer-paid portions of the total loan costs shown on the TRID Closing Disclosure of applicable loans, and it includes charges by lenders as well as charges by third-party service providers connected with obtaining the loan, to the extent the borrower pays them rather than a seller or other third party¹. If a charge is not about getting the loan, or the seller pays it, it is not in the number.

Should I pay discount points?

We cannot tell you, and we will not pretend to. What is verified: about 56.6 percent of home purchase loans paid some discount points in 2023, a median of $3,000, and the CFPB states plainly that its report does not analyze the impact of paying points on rate reductions or total loan costs¹. Ask your lender for the same loan priced with and without points, in writing, and work out how long you would need to keep the loan before it pays back.

Do cash buyers pay closing costs?

They avoid loan costs as the CFPB measures them, because that figure is built from loan charges on a Closing Disclosure¹. Cash is not rare either: 25 percent of June 2026 transactions were cash sales². Other charges in a transfer, including title work, recording and any local transfer tax, do not disappear because a lender is absent. No federal series prices those, so ask your settlement agent for the itemized schedule in your county.

Can I get the seller to pay some of it?

It is a negotiation, and the federal data quietly confirms the practice exists. The CFPB counts only charges paid by the borrower rather than by a seller or another third party¹, which is a distinction you only need if sellers sometimes pay. Whether it happens in your deal depends on your market and your contract. Put any contribution in the purchase agreement in dollars, and ask your lender in advance how much your program allows.

Sources

Where these facts came from

Every figure on this page was read out of the page linked below. We do not cite cost aggregators.

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