The cost of owning a home in the United States has increased 26 per cent since 2020, as expenses including taxes, insurance and utilities all soared during a period of high inflation across the economy.
The average annual outlay for owning and maintaining a typical single-family home — not including mortgage payments — totalled US$18,118 in March, the personal finance website Bankrate found.
That works out to US$1,510 a month more than four years earlier, when pandemic lockdowns began.
The calculation is based on Redfin’s March median sales price of US$436,291.
“It was really eye-opening to see just how much it costs to maintain a home,” said Jeff Ostrowski, an analyst at Bankrate. “Until you own a house, it doesn’t dawn on you how much money you’re throwing into the house every month and year.”
In its analysis, Bankrate factored in property taxes, home insurance, energy costs, internet and cable bills, and 2 per cent of the sales price for maintenance — expenses many buyers tend to underestimate.
Home maintenance accounted for the largest share of ownership costs in Bankrate’s findings, so states where purchase prices rose dramatically through the pandemic saw bigger percentage jumps in overall outlays. Property levies were the second-largest piece of the equation in high-tax states such as New Jersey and Connecticut.
In others, energy bills came in second.
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Same here in Texas. There have been no hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, floods or other damage in the region but insurance costs still keep skyrocketing, auto insurance, too. Just had a service charge on my a/c, $1,100. New carpeting for our living room and master bedroom, $9,500, water heater last year, $1,500. Nothing is reasonable any longer. I don't know how the average person can even maintain a home any longer.
@M4joritySeafowlForward2yrs2Y
My wife wanted me to take her somewhere expensive, I took her to the grocery store.
Having my dishwasher installed right now that I bought at the Home Depot. Cost of the dishwasher $399
Cost of the installation $599
Not much migrant labor up here.
The cost of homeownership is up? So is the cost of everything else: a basket of groceries, an automobile, tuition, healthcare, rent, an hour of labor, and so on.
Is there a common denominator here? Yes: the declining purchasing power of the dollar. And the purchasing power is declining because the government keeps putting into circulation more dollars than is justified by the nation's output of goods and services.
@EmpathicRelishVeteran2yrs2Y
“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” ― Thomas Jefferson
“The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself.” ― Plato
@XerusFrankLibertarian2yrs2Y
I have a tent. That's my backup retirement plan.
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
@ISIDEWITH2yrs2Y
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