Cost of homeownership up 26% since 2020

(CNN)– The hidden costs of home ownership are rising rapidly.

According to a new Bankrate study, U.S. homeowners are now paying an average of just over 18 thousand dollars a year on property taxes, homeowners’ insurance, maintenance, energy and other expenses linked to owning a home.

That’s a 26% increase from 4 years ago. Bankrate also found the per-month cost of owning and maintaining a home has gone from just over 12 hundred dollars a month in 2020 to just over 15 hundred now.

The findings are a reminder of how much more expensive life has become since the pandemic.

A Bankrate analyst says the costs of maintenance and insurance are the main drivers of the spike in homeownership expenses.