It’s hard enough to purchase a home today with mortgage rates near 7% and, apologies for being the bearer of worse news, there’s another housing cost that’s also spiking: property taxes
Mortgage rates have been above 6.5% for over a year, and median home sale prices keep climbing as well. Property taxes get considerably less attention, but are important to factor in affordability.
Total property taxes for homes rose 6.9% in 2023 compared with 2022, according to a recent report by ATTOM, a real-estate data analytics company based in Irvine, Calif. That was the largest jump in five years and nearly double the increase in 2022.
On an individual basis, the average tax on a single-family home increased 4.1% to $4,062 in 2023—following a 3% jump the previous year.
If your property tax bill is higher than expected, however, you have options.