It isn’t just mortgage costs that are going up. Must-haves like insurance and utilities have skyrocketed in the last decade, too, according to a report by the Center for Housing Policy, an advocacy organization

While incomes rose only 36 percent, utilities increased 43 percent, property taxes rose 66 percent, and homeowners insurance went up 83 percent, the report calculated.

On average, housing expenses – including rent or mortgage payments and the cost of utilities, property taxes, insurance and maintenance – went up by $5,314, or 65 percent, during the 10 years examined in the study.

Source: MarketWatch, Amy Hoak (10/08/2008)

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