Surprise! Your home may be costing more than you think.

It’s a common belief that owning a home is an investment, but the reality is otherwise. While the national year-over-year appreciation rate of 14.5% (as of April 2021) may seem high, this figure includes both areas where housing prices are skyrocketing as well as regions where appreciation is relatively low. Once you add the costs of owning a home—mortgages, taxes and home repairs—into the equation, the actual appreciation rate of the average home barely matches the inflation rate. So, for many people, their home not only isn’t an investment, but, depending on the never-sending cycle of home maintenance costs, it may end up being a money-losing proposition.