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Home prices and mortgage rates may be down, but closing costs on a mortgage have shot up significantly over the past year throughout the United States, according to a new survey.

On average, U.S. mortgage closing costs are up 8.8 percent from one year ago, according to a new Bankrate survey taken in June. Origination, title and third-party fees on a $200,000 loan averaged $4,070, up from $3,741 from the last survey in June 2010.

Analysts attributed the increase in large part to the extra work loan lenders are taking on to ensure that applications pass muster with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are subjecting applications to increased scrutiny since the collapse of the subprime mortgage market. Additional efforts are also required to meet tighter lending regulations imposed in the last two years.

The most expensive states in which to close a mortgage continued to be New York and Texas, which have held that distinction for the past five years. Average closing costs in New York were $6,183, with Texas in second place at $4,944.

Rounding out the top five were Utah ($4,906), California/San Francisco ($4,832) and Idaho, which jumped up five spots from last year's #10 ranking, at $4,643. Comparable state-by-state figures from 2010 were not provided.

The survey showed the importance of shopping around for a mortgage. The survey found that lender origination fees in New York state might vary from as little as $700 to more than $4,000, depending on the lender chosen. The state average was $2,210.

At the other end of the scale, the state with the lowest average closing costs was Arkansas, at $3,378. Others at the low end were North Carolina ($3,410), Indiana ($3,430), Iowa ($3,474) and Alabama ($3,501).

Average were determined by contacting up to 10 lenders in a major city in each state to request good-faith estimates on a $200,000 mortgage with good credit and 20 percent down for the purchase of a single-family home. As a result, figures for other parts of a state may vary.

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