Report Finds Typical Homeowner Spends Nearly $24,000 Annually on Housing Beyond Mortgage

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The typical homeowner spends nearly $24,000 per year on non-mortgage housing expenses, which adds up to roughly $710,580 over a 30-year mortgage, according to a new report from Clever Real Estate, St. Louis.

Clever reported the average homeowner’s annual non-mortgage costs include:

$7,679 on utilities

$5,162 on maintenance

$3,929 on renovations

$3,580 on property taxes

$3,336 on homeowner’s insurance.

For the 37% of homeowners who belong to an HOA, the total climbs to $27,882 per year, the report noted.

Unsurprisingly, the vast majority–82%–of homeowners say their non-mortgage costs have increased since they bought their home, and 45% say homeownership costs more than they expected. Well over half of homeowners said they would have made a different buying decision if they had known the true cost of owning a home and would pay an average of $18,529 more for a maintenance-free home.

Two-thirds of homeowners (66%) say their property taxes have increased significantly since they purchased.

Among all the costs of owning a home, property taxes are what homeowners find most unfair (49%) and most want to eliminate (45%), Clever noted.

Amid increasing costs, more than half of homeowners (55%) said they could not cover a $5,000 emergency home repair without going into credit card debt, and nearly 1 in 5 could not afford even a $1,000 emergency, the report said. About 42% said they would not be able to afford a $500 monthly increase in housing costs.

As a result, 63% of homeowners have put off necessary maintenance due to cost. More than a third have delayed a major repair for more than a year, and 31% said something essential is currently broken in their home that they do not plan to immediately fix.

Clever found that nearly two-thirds of homeowners have already made financial sacrifices to cover homeownership costs, including 22% who carry a credit card balance and 19% who have dipped into retirement savings.

Despite the financial strain, homeowners remain overwhelmingly positive — 87% of homeowners say it’s worth the cost, 89% view homeownership as a good financial investment, and 81% would buy their current home again if given the choice.