Realtor.com: Hoa Fees Are On The Rise Among All Home Types

Mortgage and property tax payments are not the only expenses that prospective homeowners need to consider. Homeowners associations (HOAs) are commonplace, and more of them are requiring owners to pay up, according to a survey by Realtor.com.

Realtor.com’s report found that 40.5% of listings in 2024 had some sort of HOA fee — and these expenses became even more costly. The listings portal combined weekly data on for-sale listings in 2023 and 2024 for comparison. The report only considered listings if they had an HOA fee.

The share of listings with HOA fees rose from 2023, when 39.2% of listings required them. Also, the median monthly fee rose over the past year, increasing from $110 in 2023 to $125 in 2024. Realtor.com noted that certain home types stood out in terms of HOA fee requirements.

Compared to existing homes, new homes were much more likely to include HOA fees, In fact, 69.9% of new construction homes required buyers to pay HOA dues, compared to only 38.2% of existing homes. But the report noted that existing homes were outpacing new homes for growth in the percentage of listings that include HOA dues.

Realtor.com noted that “as homes in communities built more recently are resold, their HOA memberships are transferred to the next buyers, expanding the reach of HOAs in the existing-home market.”

While HOA fees are becoming more common among all types of homes, the amounts being charged are increasing at a similar pace. The median monthly fee for an existing home was $148 in 2024, up 14.7% from 2023. Meanwhile, median dues for new homes were $71 last year, up 6% from 2023.

“Newly built homes are becoming smaller and more affordable while prices for existing homes continue to rise, so part of the difference between their HOA dues can be attributed to the relative values and sizes of the homes,” the report noted. The company also said that new-construction communities often require less maintenance compared to their older counterparts.

Certain niche home types outpaced others in terms of HOA fee requirements. According to Realtor.com, more than 83% of condominiums had dues in 2024. Conversely, only 33.6% of single-family homes required them. But in terms of annualized growth, condos outpaced single-family homes.

Monthly HOA dues were much higher for condos at $375 on average, although these were often combined with condo fees. HOA dues for single-family homes were only $58 per month. Condos also saw their costs grow more rapidly, up 9.3% year over year, while those for single-family homes grew by 7.4%.

Realtor.com’s report also highlighted 10 metro areas with the highest shares of HOA due requirements. Edwards, Colorado, had the highest share of listings with HOA dues at 89.9%, as well as the highest monthly payment at $525. Realtor.com noted that these areas had higher concentrations of condos among their listings.

As more listings demand higher HOA dues, homebuyers may need to factor these payments into their budgets in 2025.