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Zillow & Thumbtack Hidden Costs Study
Monday 31st July, 2017
Zillow and Thumbtack published an original analysis quantifying the ‘hidden costs’ of homeownership—insurance, maintenance and property tax—reporting an average annual total of about $15,979 and highlighting sharp insurance premium increases and metro-level differences to prompt mainstream coverage about household affordability.
Why it worked: It packaged a timely affordability crisis into a single hard number, localized by city ranks and year-over-year comparisons, making editors’ headlines write themselves.
The lesson: Consider bundling scattered costs into one clear annual figure, then add a city-by-city leaderboard and YoY deltas to power easy coverage.
Zillow
Thumbtack
5 Sources:
Coverage over time
How this story spread across the media
| Publication | Headline | Date |
|---|---|---|
| zillow.com | Hidden Costs of Homeownership Top $9,000 a Year - Zillow Research | Monday 31st July, 2017 |
| zillow.com | The True Costs of Owning a Home Can Top $14K Annually | Zillow | Sunday 1st June, 2025 |
| nationalmortgageprofessional.com | Hidden Homeownership Expenses Rise To Record Highs – NMP | Thursday 13th November, 2025 |
| usatoday.com | Owning a home costs way more than the mortgage. Here's how much. | Sunday 16th November, 2025 |
| claimsjournal.com | Study Shows Insurance, Other Factors Push 'Hidden Costs' of Home Ownership by $16K Annually | Tuesday 18th November, 2025 |