Origination charges vs. total loan costs: what is negotiable
Section A is the lender's price; section D adds third-party services. How the two compare across 2025 loans.
Updated October 24, 2026
Two numbers on page 2 of the Loan Estimate tell you most of what a lender charges: section A, origination charges, and section D, total loan costs (A plus the third-party services in B and C).
Section A is the lender's own price
Origination charges include discount points, application, underwriting and origination fees. They vary the most between lenders and are where competing offers make the biggest difference. In 2025, the median home-purchase borrower paid $1,860 in origination charges, and a quarter paid more than $4,380 — largely because 51% of borrowers paid discount points.
Sections B and C are services
Appraisals, credit reports, title insurance and settlement fees are set by the providers, and you can shop for section C services. Federal rules limit changes after the Loan Estimate: absent a valid change of circumstance, section A charges cannot increase at all, and section B services plus section C services from the lender's written list can rise by no more than 10% in total.
How much loan costs vary
Among the 2,017 lenders with a profile here, the lender-level median conventional loan costs ranged from $3,650 (25th percentile lender) to $6,360 (75th percentile). Part of that gap reflects loan size and location; part is pricing. That is why the CFPB recommends getting at least three Loan Estimates.
Next: are discount points worth it? · compare lenders
Data: FFIEC/CFPB HMDA 2025 public loan/application register; FHFA and HUD 2026 loan limits. Home-purchase figures cover owner-occupied single-family (1–4 unit) site-built homes, first-lien closed-end loans. Methodology