Buying a home? Expect to pay $18,000 a year in additional costs
CBSN
Soaring prices for homeowners insurance, property taxes and utility bills are adding thousands of dollars to the cost of owning a home. The increases come at a time of record-high real estate prices and elevated mortgages and closing fees.
The average annual cost of insurance, taxes and utilities for a single-family home in the U.S. is currently about $18,118, according to an analysis from Bankrate. That's up from $14,428 in 2020, the personal finance website said. Those costs are rising for several reasons, including rising home values, rising costs from construction companies hired to build properties, and rising homeowners insurance rates as a result of climate-related natural disasters, Bankrate said.
"These numbers show that the costs of owning a home are at the same level as buying a used car every year," Bankrate analyst Jeff Ostrowski said in a statement Monday. "Homeownership is an important wealth-builder for many Americans, but it ain't cheap," he added.
