In addition to their mortgage, the average homeowner spends $17,958 each year on expenses, including maintenance, improvements, utilities, property taxes, and insurance, according to new research from Real Estate Witch, an online publication owned by Clever Real Estate that connects readers with expert real estate advice.

Annually, the average homeowner spends:

• $4,392 on maintenance and repairs

• $3,784 on renovations and improvements

• $5,362 on utilities

• $2,904 on property taxes

• $1,516 on homeowners insurance

Over a 30-year mortgage, this translates to a staggering $538,740 in additional expenses beyond the mortgage — enough to buy a second house.

Even more, almost one-quarter of homeowners (23%) spend over 30% of their income on home expenses on top of their mortgage payments.

Unsurprisingly, 88% say the true cost of owning a home is more expensive than they expected, and 67% have regrets about their home purchase. In fact, 26% of homeowners think they overpaid for their home, including 46% of 2023 and 2024 buyers, who faced both high home prices and high interest rates.

More than 1 in 3 homeowners (36%) say their home has negatively affected their finances, and nearly 1 in 4 (23%) say it's negatively impacted their mental health.

On average, homeowners spend a daunting 588 hours each year working on home upkeep and improvements — about 11.3 hours weekly, or 24.5 days a year. That means every 15 years, the typical homeowner loses a year of their life (365 days) to home upkeep and improvements.

1 in 5 homeowners (19%) struggle to afford maintenance so much that they cannot afford a $500 emergency repair without going into credit card debt.

In the face of escalating expenses, more than 1 in 4 homeowners (28%) say they've considered going back to renting, and 20% have resorted to taking on more debt to afford the expense of homeownership.

Read the full report at: https://www.realestatewitch.com/homeownership-cost-2024