Homeowners are under pressure. Savings rates are about half their historical levels, and many households are living paycheck to paycheck with limited emergency savings. Every increase in what homeowners pay is difficult.
At HOA Simplified, our role is to protect your community's safety, maintenance, and property values at the lowest sustainable cost. We treat HOA funds as if they were our own: rebidding contracts, challenging vendors, and avoiding "nice-to-have" spending that doesn't add real value.
The data below is context to help boards separate unavoidable cost pressures from areas you can still control.
Download the full 2026 Economic Baseline report (PDF)
The New Cost Baseline
Vendor and service expenses for HOAs have risen significantly since 2019 and are unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels. Consumer prices are up roughly 25% overall since 2019, with HOA-specific drivers (labor, materials, insurance, utilities) running even hotter.
These changes reflect structural shifts in wages, contracts, and regulation rather than one-off spikes. Boards now have to budget based on today's cost reality, not 2019 benchmarks.
How We Got Here: The COVID Boom
2020 through 2022 brought historic stimulus, low interest rates, and strong markets, which boosted wages, home equity, and investment balances. That wave of demand ran ahead of supply, pushing up prices for goods, labor, and services across the economy.
Businesses raised wages and reset contracts to reflect higher costs. Once those scales moved up, they rarely moved back down. Those same forces now show up in HOA bids, service contracts, and insurance renewals, even though the peak "COVID chaos" is over.
Over the last 10 years, prices in the U.S. are up roughly 36 to 37%, so $100 of expenses in 2015 now costs about $137. Even though the rate has cooled, today's prices sit on top of that decade of increases, which is why 2015 or 2019 quotes no longer work for 2025 projects.
Labor: Wages and Staffing Drive Vendor Pricing
Average private-sector wages rose 25 to 30% from 2019 to 2025, and construction and maintenance sectors moved in lockstep. The labor market remains historically tight: unemployment is low and roughly 80% of contractors report hiring difficulty.
HOA vendors (landscaping, janitorial, maintenance, management) must pay market wages to attract and retain workers, and those costs flow directly into contract pricing. Construction and maintenance wages have increased from roughly $29/hr to $37/hr since 2020.
Labor-intensive services like lawncare and general maintenance are among the fastest-rising cost categories in the entire economy. When vendors price roofing, repairs, or recurring maintenance, these wage increases make up a large share of the final number.
We focus on rebidding, scope clarity, and vendor comparisons to make sure your community is not paying more than necessary for that labor.
Materials: Project Costs Are Structurally Higher
Prices for key construction materials (lumber, steel, asphalt, roofing) rose 40 to 50% from pre-2020 levels and remain elevated. Even with some normalization, most construction inputs are still 20 to 30% above 2019 pricing.
Tariffs, supply-chain changes, and updated codes all contribute to a higher baseline for capital projects and repairs. Reserve studies and project plans need to be updated to modern unit costs so boards are not surprised when bids come in.
Tariffs Add to Material Costs
Building material costs continue to rise, with many suppliers increasing prices in response to recent tariff activity. Surveys of builders and remodelers show average price hikes of 5.5 to 6.9% from tariffs alone, on top of general inflation.
The average U.S. tariff rate is now around 14 to 15%, the highest since the 1930s, and building inputs like cabinetry, steel, and copper face tariffs of 30 to 50%. HOAs should expect these tariff-driven increases to be reflected in vendor pricing for repairs, renovations, and capital projects.
Insurance: Premiums Keep Climbing
Average homeowners insurance premiums rose roughly 40% nationwide from 2019 to 2024, with some states seeing increases of 70% or more. Catastrophic events, higher replacement values, and carrier losses have forced insurers to reprice aggressively.
At the same time, deductibles and exclusions have increased, shifting more risk back to communities. We help boards test coverage structures and deductibles so you are balancing cost with the level of protection your HOA truly needs.
Utilities: Rate Increases Are Built into the System
Electricity and natural gas prices have risen 20 to 30% since 2019, with additional step-ups scheduled through approved rate cases. Water and sewer rates are up 20 to 25%, driven by infrastructure investment, drought resilience, and regulatory upgrades.
Utility providers pass along cost increases tied to inflation, labor, fuel, and grid modernization to all ratepayers, including HOAs. Energy-efficiency projects can help slow the growth of bills, but the baseline cost of utilities is unlikely to fall.
How HOA Simplified Protects Your Budget
We cannot control the market, but we can control how hard we work for every dollar you spend.
- Rebid key contracts regularly instead of letting them auto-renew at higher rates.
- Benchmark vendors so your community is not overpaying for the same service.
- Plan big projects early so they are funded and not last-minute emergencies.
- Bring the board clear options (good / better / best), not take-it-or-leave-it proposals.
We proactively monitor vendor, insurance, and utility trends so your community is not caught off guard by renewals. We help boards avoid unnecessary scope creep, focusing on what actually protects safety, property values, and homeowner experience.
We act as a buffer and translator between market conditions and homeowners, helping you explain the "why" behind every major expense.
Download the full 2026 Economic Baseline report (PDF)
Have questions about your community's budget? Book a free financial health check or request a proposal to see how we can help protect your HOA's bottom line.