Study: Inflation drives annual home maintenance costs to nearly $5,000.

Our Home Care Price Index takes into account various projects homeowners need to tackle each year — including HVAC maintenance, gutter cleaning, roof maintenance, and more — to prevent costly repairs and to help avoid unnecessary emergencies. This quarter, the category driving inflation most is appliance repairs and maintenance, up 26% year-over-year. This is due to continued supply chain disruptions contributing to shortages of semiconductors, which has led to homeowners undertaking more expensive repairs when they may have previously opted to replace an entire appliance — like dishwashers or refrigerators. 

The most recent Consumer Price Index for March 2022 found that prices had increased an annual rate of 8.5%, which is in line with the rate of inflation among prices Thumbtack pros are charging for their services.

Inflation continues to impact home services.

Over the past two years, inflation has been broad-based throughout the home services sector. Among Thumbtack’s home care categories, 82% saw an increase in average prices this past quarter. As Thumbtack pros face difficulty finding qualified labor to meet consumer demand and an increase in the price of energy and materials necessary to their work, they are forced to pass increased operating costs on to consumers. Our recent Economic Sentiment Survey found that 45% of Thumbtack pros pass on at least half of their cost increases to consumers and 21% report passing all of the cost increases they face on to the consumer. This is due to the rising costs of supplies and labor pros are currently facing.

And while inflation for the cost of maintenance of townhomes and apartments is lower than that of a single-family home, they still continue to increase at a high rate. Caring for a townhome increased by an annualized rate of 7.8% in Q1’22 up to a total cost of $1,951 annually, while caring for an apartment increased by an annualized rate of 6.5% in Q1’22, costing homeowners $688 annually (not including HOA fees).

Going forward, upward pressure on prices will likely remain prevalent throughout the economy for most of 2022. Supply shortages are likely to resolve sooner than other factors as production adjusts to meet shifts in consumer demand and COVID-related shutdowns in manufacturing abroad become infrequent. Higher energy costs have impacted service professionals as driving to jobs has increased in cost. Labor shortages are driven by longer-term demographic trends that impact the supply of labor, which means pros will continue to have difficulty hiring for the foreseeable future.

Local lawmakers can ease some of these pressure points by making training available to those who are looking to change industries to ease talent shortages, and continuing to help with making business capital available for small businesses that are absorbing the costs of higher inputs like gas, supplies, and tools. Finally, working to make broadband and wifi more affordable for businesses.

Regional inflation trends.

The increased demand for home service professionals is contributing to inflation in the hottest markets. These trends vary vastly on a local level:

In the first quarter of 2022, western cities had the highest rate of inflation across the country: with Portland, OR (+28%) and Seattle, WA (+24%) feeling the highest impact, followed by Salt Lake City, UT (+21%). San Antonio (+18%), San Diego (+17.1%), Houston (+14.7%), Kansas City (+14.7%), Phoenix (+13.5%) and Las Vegas (+10.2%) are also feeling the effects.

Cost to maintain a home by city:

And while inflation continues to impact the cities from the east to west coast, these are the most and least affordable cities for home maintenance across the country:

Most affordable places to maintain a home:

Least affordable places to maintain a home:

Affects from the housing economy.

In the current housing economy, while low rates have intensified the housing supply shortage in the past two years, prices for homes are forecasted to increase throughout the year despite rising interest rates, which may slow and ease some of the inflation and shortages in the home space as home buying slows and home projects resume a ‘normal’ cycle.

Currently, the housing market turnover has increased pressure on the home services industry as home renovations and general projects have outpaced supply — both of materials and labor.

For those considering purchasing a home this year, it’s important to keep in mind that completing home projects like renovations and annual maintenance will continue to take longer than in years past and may cost more than expected. Lead times are continuing to shift, we recommend budgeting 6–8 months for larger projects and a lead time of 2–4 weeks for timely maintenance projects like turning on sprinklers or aerating your lawn.

To book a local professional for your home projects, download the Thumbtack app (available on iOS and Android) today.

Related: Smart ways to save on your home remodeling projects.

Methodology: The Home Care Price Index incorporates Thumbtack categories that are deemed essential annual tasks for home maintenance — Appliance Maintenance, Carpet Cleaning, Central Air Conditioning Maintenance, Deck Staining and Sealing, Duct and Vent Cleaning, Fireplace and Chimney Cleaning, Full Service Lawn Care, Gutter Cleaning and Maintenance, Heating System Maintenance, House Cleaning, Pressure Washing, Roof Maintenance, Sprinkler and Irrigation System Maintenance, Tile and Grout Cleaning, Tree Trimming and Removal, Water Heater Maintenance, and Window Cleaning. Pricing data is based on projects requested on Thumbtack between April 1, 2021 — March 31, 2022 reported directly by the independent service professional or individual customer. The cost is an unweighted index of home maintenance projects on a quarterly basis using a moving average. Outliers were removed if the reported price was greater than three times the standard deviation from the mean within each individual category.