$50.4 million, or 15.2%, and an increase in savings account balances of $24.1 million, or 13.0%. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in certificates of deposit of $8.3 million, or 2.9%, and a decrease in NOW/money market accounts of $1.4 million, or 1.2%, from December 31, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
Federal Home Loan Bank advances decreased by $7.0 million, or 25.0%, to $21.0 million at March 31, 2022 from $28.0 million at December 31, 2021.
Advance payments by borrowers for taxes and insurance increased by $387,000, or 20.5%, to $2.3 million at March 31, 2022 from $1.9 million at December 31, 2021 due primarily to the accumulation of tax payments from borrowers.
Lease liability – operating decreased by $130,000, or 5.0%, to $2.5 million at March 31, 2022 from $2.6 million at December 31, 2021, primarily due to amortization.
Accounts payable and accrued expenses decreased by $4.7 million, or 35.0%, to $8.8 million at March 31, 2022 from $13.5 million at December 31, 2021 due primarily to a decrease in suspense accounts for loan closings of $2.6 million and a decrease in accrued expenses of $2.2 million.
Stockholders’ equity increased by $3.0 million, or 1.2% to $254.4 million at March 31, 2022, from $251.4 million at December 31, 2021. The increase in stockholders’ equity was due to net income of $3.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, a reduction of $217,000 in unearned employee stock ownership plan shares, and $19,000 in other comprehensive income, partially offset by dividends declared of $931,000.
Results of Operations for the Three Months Ended March 31, 2022 and 2021
Financial Highlights
Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $3.6 million compared to net income of $3.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021. Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was greater than net income for the three months ended March 31, 2021 primarily due to an increase in net interest income and no provision for loan losses expense, partially offset by a decrease in non-interest income, an increase in non-interest expense, and an increase in income tax expense.
Net Interest Income
Net interest income totaled $11.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, as compared to $10.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021. The increase in net interest income of $1.5 million, or 15.2%, was primarily due to an increase in interest income combined with a decrease in interest expense.
The increase in interest income is attributable to increases in loans, investment securities, equity securities, and interest-bearing deposits as we continued to deploy the proceeds raised in our July 2021 second-step conversion. The decrease in interest expense is attributable to a decrease in the balances and cost of funds on our certificates of deposits, partially offset by increases in the balances and cost of funds in our interest-bearing demand deposits and our savings and club accounts.
In this regard, interest and dividend income increased by $1.5 million, or 12.3%, to $13.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $11.8 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 due to an increase in the average balance of interest earning assets of $268.0 million, or 29.7%, to $1.2 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $902.0 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, partially offset by a decrease in the yield on interest earning assets by 70 basis points from 5.24% for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 to 4.54% for the quarter ended March 31, 2022.
Interest expense decreased by $117,000, or 8.0%, to $1.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $1.5 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 due to a decrease in the cost of interest bearing liabilities by 17 basis points from 1.02% for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 to 0.85% for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, partially offset by an increase in average interest bearing liabilities of $60.0 million, or 10.4%, to $635.3 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 from $575.4 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.