Conshohocken, Pa., April 27, 2026 – LodeStar Software Solutions, a leading provider of nationwide mortgage closing cost data, today released its second purchase mortgage closing cost data report, which showed that the national average total closing costs for a purchase mortgage transaction were $4,528. This amount consists of a national average of 1.04% of the home sales price.

Key Takeaways

• Closing costs as a percentage of sales price hovers around 0.5% to 3%, with an average percentage of 1.04% and a median of 0.85%. Just like in 2025, Delaware leads the pack at a whopping 3.06% of the sales price.
• When expressed as a percentage of the sales price, closing costs are lowest in states without transfer taxes, or with minimal transfer taxes.
• Conversely, the highest closing costs (expressed as a percentage of sales price) tend to occur in states where the transfer taxes make up a bulk of the overhead. Delaware, New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and DC are still great examples of this since LodeStar’s 2025 report.
• The states with the lowest closing costs in comparison to the sales price were South Dakota (0.39%), Colorado (0.50%), and Iowa (0.56%).
• The national average and median home sales prices are $433,632 and $406,786, respectively.
• The national average and median total closing costs (w/ recording and taxes) are $4,528 and $3,492, respectively.
• The national average and median total closing costs (w/out recording and taxes) are $2,993 and $2,923, respectively.

“Compared with last year’s report, both average and median sales prices declined modestly, and closing costs moved lower as well,” said Ron Carvalho, Director of Data Operations at LodeStar.  “Despite those decreases, closing costs remained largely unchanged as a percentage of the sales price, shifting only slightly from 1.06% to 1.04% on average and from 0.86% to 0.85% at the median.”

On May 11, 2026, LodeStar will release a Refinance Mortgage Closing Cost Report.

Source for all tables: LodeStar Software Solutions, 2026

Methodology

LodeStar defines average closing costs as the average fees, recordation charges, and transfer taxes required to close a typical purchase transaction in a geographical area, in addition to the following service types: settlement/closing/escrow fees, and title policies (both owners and lenders).

The actual closing fees from a sample of 620,000+ purchase quotes, from January 1 through December 31, 2025, were analyzed. Home prices over $10 million were not considered.

LodeStar calculates the percentage of the sales price as the average total closing costs with recording fees & taxes included divided by the average sales price in a given geographical area.

About LodeStar

Mortgage closing costs are all LodeStar does. From statewide transfer taxes to granular township-level fees, LodeStar makes sure your closing costs are spot-on for every disclosure. 

Above all else, LodeStar’s core values are providing CLARITY, COMMUNITY, and CONNECTIVITY throughout the mortgage industry.

With the arrival of TRID, co-founders Jim Paolino and David Spektor saw a need for specialists. Managing closing costs might seem like something simple and easy that you can handle in-house. But as many lenders have learned, the world of closing cost disclosure comes with tons of risk: expensive tolerance cures, frustrating LO errors, and the list goes on. LodeStar acts as your partner in fee management, so you can have one less thing to worry about along the road to close. 

Media Contact Info

Tim Austen

Marketing Content Manager

tausten@lssoftwaresolutions.com

Contributors

Jim Mark, Quality Control Manager

Ron Carvalho, Director of Data Operations

Tim Austen, Marketing Content Manager

Alayna Gardner, Director of Revenue