People’s mortgage payment gets most of their attention, but the extra expenses of owning a home are quickly adding up. A report from the Center for Housing Policy reports that almost every major expense associated with home ownership has risen dramatically in the last ten years between 1996 and 2006.
The rising cost of home ownership over the last 10 years:
- Mortgage payment increased by 46%
- Property taxes increased 66%
- Utilities have risen 43%
- Homeowners’ insurance spiked 83%
- Heating-oil prices increased 131%
In those same ten years, American homeowners’ incomes have only risen 36%
Renters are not exempt either. Rents rose on average across the country by 51%. Renters’ incomes only rose 31% according to the study.
In comparison, food costs rose by 30%, transportation costs rose by 33%, and health-care costs rose 56%, according to the same report.
Even with the recent downturn of housing prices in certain segments of the housing market, homeownership and its associated expenses have risen faster than our incomes making purchasing or renting a home even more expensive.
You can view the entire study, “Stretched Thin: The Impact of Rising Housing Expenses on America’s Owners and Renters”, at the Center for Housing Policy’s website.
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