Interest Expense. Interest expense decreased $3.4 million, or 30.3%, to $7.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 from $11.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The decrease in interest expense was primarily due to a decline of 19 basis points in the average cost of interest-bearing liabilities to 0.50% for the three months ended March 31, 2022 from 0.69% for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and the decrease of $257.4 million in the average balance of interest-bearing liabilities to $6,220.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 from $6,477.9 million for the comparable prior year period.
Net Interest Income. Net interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $63.5 million, an increase of $2.6 million, or 4.2%, from $60.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The increase in net interest income was primarily due to net interest-earning assets growing $160.5 million year over year to $1,349.9 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, and an increase of 18 basis points in the net interest margin to 3.36% during the same period. Included in net interest income was prepayment penalty income, net of reversals and recovered interest from non-accrual loans totaling $1.7 million and $0.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, net (losses) gains from fair value adjustments on qualifying hedges totaling $(0.1) million and $1.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and purchase accounting income adjustments of $1.1 million and $0.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Excluding all of these items, the net interest margin for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was 3.22%, an increase of 21 basis points, from 3.01% for the three months ended March 31, 2021.
Provision for Credit Losses. During the three months ended March 31, 2022, the provision for credit losses was $1.4 million, compared to $2.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The provision recorded during the three months ended March 31, 2022 was greater than net charge-offs of $0.9 million. During the three months ended March 31, 2022, non-accrual loans decreased $0.9 million to $14.1 million from December 31, 2021. The current average loan-to-value ratio for our non-performing loans collateralized by real estate was 37% at March 31, 2022. The Bank continues to maintain conservative underwriting standards.
Non-Interest Income. Non-interest income for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $1.3 million, a decrease of $5.0 million from $6.3 million in the prior year comparable period. The decrease was primarily due to a decline in loan swap income, gains from disposition of assets and net gains from fair value adjustments. The decline in net gains from fair value adjustments was primarily driven by the termination of $18.0 million in interest rate swaps in 2021. These swaps resulted in net gains totaling $2.6 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021.
Non-Interest Expense. Non-interest expense for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $38.8 million, an increase of $0.6 million, or 1.7%, from $38.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The increase in non-interest expense was primarily due to the growth of the Company.
Income before Income Taxes. Income before income taxes for the three months ended March 31, 2022 was $24.6 million, a decrease of $1.6 million, or 6.0%, from $26.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 for the previously discussed reasons.
Provision for Income Taxes. The provision for income taxes was $6.4 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, a decrease of $0.8 million, or 10.6%, from $7.2 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The decrease was primarily due to a decline in income before income taxes. The effective tax rate for three months ended March 31, 2022 was 26.1% compared to 27.4% for the three months ended March 31, 2021.
FINANCIAL CONDITION
Assets. Total assets at March 31, 2022 were $8,169.8 million, an increase of $123.9 million, or 1.5%, from $8,045.9 million at December 31, 2021. Total loans, net decreased $31.1 million, or 0.5%, during the three months ended March 31, 2022, to $6,569.8 million from $6,601.0 million at December 31, 2021. The decrease was primarily due to PPP loan forgiveness totaling $34.1 million during the three months ended March 31, 2022. Loan originations and purchases were $329.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2022, an increase of $6.4 million, or 2.0%, from $322.9 million for the three months