When buyers talk about affordability, the focus is usually on purchase price and interest rate. But a recent national analysis from Neighbors Bank highlights something every New Jersey homeowner already feels: property taxes and homeowners insurance can quietly eat up a big slice of your monthly payment.
The average monthly mortgage payment in New Jersey, including property taxes, is roughly $3,600 to $4,800+, often exceeding $4,000 when accounting for the state’s high property taxes, which average over $10,095.
Across nearly 450 metro areas, the report found that taxes and insurance account for about 21% of the typical monthly mortgage payment. In some markets, they climb to more than one‑third of the total—adding hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars each month.
For example, in Pensacola, Florida, taxes and insurance make up 43.6% of the average monthly payment. There, a principal‑and‑interest payment of about $1,531 is paired with roughly $1,183 in taxes and insurance, bringing the total to $2,714. Other high‑burden areas include parts of Illinois, where property tax rates are the main culprit, and other Florida markets where insurance costs have surged due to hurricane and flood risk.
On the flip side, some of the country’s most expensive markets by home price have a relatively small share of the payment going to taxes and insurance. Urban Honolulu, for instance, has very high principal‑and‑interest payments but extremely low property tax rates, so taxes and insurance represent only about 9% of the typical monthly payment.
Why This Matters for New Jersey Buyers and Owners
New Jersey is known for having some of the highest property taxes in the nation. That makes the lesson of this report especially relevant here:
- It’s not enough to “run the numbers” on price and rate.
- Buyers must property taxes and insurance costs into their affordability calculations from day one.
- Current owners should expect these costs WILL INCREASE over time—even if their interest rate never changes.
If you have any questions about this information or title insurance, please contact Ralph Aponte: 732.914.1400.
Counsellors Title Agency, www.counsellorstitle.net, founded in 1996, is one of New Jersey’s most respected title agencies, serving all 21 New Jersey counties with title insurance, clearing title, escrow, tidelands searches, and closing and settlement services for commercial or industrial properties, waterfront properties and marinas, condominiums, townhouses or residential single-family homes. Counsellors Title also features its own Attorney Settlement Assistance Program™ [ASAP], which is an individual resource customized to fit the needs specifically of real estate attorneys, including, Documentation, Preparation, Disbursement of Funds, Attendance at Closing, HUD Preparation or Post-Closing Matters.
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