24/7 Insights

• A recent analysis reveals that the cost of home ownership in America has surged due to inflation.

What does owning a home in America cost, excluding mortgage payments? The figure hit $18,100 in March of this year, up from $14,428 for a single-family home in the same month of 2020.

Bankrate compiled the data in its recently released Hidden Costs of Homeownership Study. Based on this analysis, the median purchase price of a single-family home nationwide in March was $436,291.

These ownership costs translate to $1,510 monthly. They include “maintenance costs” such as energy, internet, and cable bills, property taxes, and homeowners insurance premiums.

Why such a large jump from March 2020 to March 2024? The answer is almost entirely inflation, which has risen 21% during that period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The authors wrote, “Insurance costs are another factor squeezing homeowners. Annual premiums have been soaring, driven by rising home values, increasing construction costs and natural disasters.”

The natural disaster part is easy to understand. Home premiums in parts of Florida have gone up by double-digit percentages, due largely to hurricanes. Some homeowners in the state cannot get insurance at all. This has spread to some areas in the Midwest that have had tornado and hailstorm costs.

The cost of home ownership varies widely from state to state, The annual cost in Hawaii is $29,015. There could be two reasons. Hawaii has among the most expensive homes in America. The state also has among the highest median household incomes.

The Cheapest and Most Expensive Housing Markets in California

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