USAA Mortgage Interest Rate and Cost Review

Is USAA a cheap or expensive mortgage lender? To help you shop for a mortgage, we compare the interest rates and closing costs charged by USAA to those of other lenders for a comparable set of borrowers. Here is our review of USAA nationally:

Review ItemUSAA
Interest Ratesimilar to other lenders (-0.02%)
Loan Related Closing Costssimilar to other lenders (+$30)
National Rate and Closing Cost Star Rating(3.5)

On average, USAA’s interest rates were similar to those of other lenders (-0.02%). Its loan related closing costs were also similar to those of other lenders, with a difference of +$30. We maintain our independence by not accepting any money from the mortgage lenders we review. To visit USAA, check out its website at: https://www.usaa.com.

USAA’s Rate Review by City

Mortgage lenders often set different rates in different geographical markets. For our list of the top mortgage lenders by city, click here. In particular, among the cities we track USAA was most active in:

  1. Washington, DC
  2. Atlanta, GA
  3. Phoenix, AZ
  4. San Antonio, TX
  5. Los Angeles, CA

In addition, USAA is our top ranked/best mortgage lender in terms of interest rate and closing costs in:

  1. Elk River, MN, for VA mortgages
  2. San Angelo, TX, overall
  3. College Station, TX, for VA mortgages
  4. Sherman, TX, for VA mortgages
  5. Wausau, WI, for VA mortgages
  6. Kalispell, MT, for VA mortgages
  7. Staunton, VA, for Jumbo mortgages
  8. Roswell, NM, for VA mortgages
  9. Del Rio, TX, for Conforming mortgages
  10. Tuscaloosa, AL, for VA mortgages
  11. Charleston, WV, for VA mortgages
  12. Terre Haute, IN, for VA mortgages
  13. Longview, TX, for VA mortgages
  14. Eau Claire, WI, for VA mortgages
  15. Janesville, WI, for VA mortgages
  16. Harrisonburg, VA, for VA mortgages
  17. Odessa, TX, for VA mortgages

USAA’s Rate Review by Mortgage Type

Mortgage lenders also tend to charge different interest rates and closing costs depending on the type of mortgage. In our data, USAA originated Conforming, Jumbo and VA mortgages for new home purchases and refinances. Its average interest rate and total loan related closing cost difference relative to other lenders by mortgages type is as follows.

Purchase/Refinance:
New Purchase MortgagesConformingJumboVA
Interest Rate Difference-0.01%+0.01%-0.03%
Loan Related Closing Cost Difference+$333+$41+$34
Cost Adjusted Rate Difference+0.01%+0.01%-0.03%
National Star Rating(3.5)(3.5)(3.5)
Refinance MortgagesConformingJumboVA
Interest Rate Difference-0.04%+0.01%-0.03%
Loan Related Closing Cost Difference+$204+$44-$473
Cost Adjusted Rate Difference-0.04%+0.01%-0.07%
Average Star Rating(3.5)(3.5)(4)

As a summary, USAA is similar to other lenders for Conforming, Jumbo and VA purchase mortgages. For refinancing, USAA is cheap for VA mortgage refinance. It is similar to other lenders for Conforming and Jumbo mortgage refinance. Nevertheless, individual circumstances can matter a lot for mortgage rates, and we always recommend shopping among several of our top mortgage lenders in your area before signing.

Other information about USAA:

Registered name: Usaa Federal Savings Bank
Registered city and state: SAN ANTONIO, TX, 78288
Regulator: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
Top holder: UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION

* Source of the data is Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and is for mortgages originated in the past year. Our comparable mortgages analysis controls for USAA’s distribution of loan term (e.g. 30 year vs 15 year), loan-to-value (LTV), debt-to-income (DTI), loan amount, loan program (e.g. Conforming/FHA), loan purpose (e.g. purchase/refinance), and commuting zone. Cost adjusted rates were computed based on each percent of the loan amount in above average loan related closing costs being worth +0.15 of a percentage point in interest rate. Furthermore, the amounts are regularized using a Bayesian approach to control for small samples.