December 15, 1998 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Homeowner expenditures take more out of budgets in Northeast and West

Consumers in the Northeast and West allocate larger shares of expenditures to owned dwelling (or homeowner) expenses--mortgage interest and charges; property taxes; and maintenance, repairs, and insurance--than do consumers in the South and Midwest.

In 1995, consumers in the West spent 13.3 percent of total expenditures on owned-dwelling expenses, and those in the Northeast spent 13.1 percent. This compared with 11.0 percent in the Midwest, and 10.0 percent in the South.

[Chart data—TXT]

Between 1989 and 1995, the share of total expenditures going to owned dwelling expenses rose the most in the Northeast, and the least in the South.

In 1995, the share of total expenditures allocated to mortgage interest and charges was highest in the West, and increased the most between 1989 and 1995 in the Northeast. The South reported a decline in the share of total expenses going to mortgage interest and charges.

The largest increase between 1989 and 1995 in the share of total expenditures going to property taxes was reported in the Northeast; that region also reported the highest share of expenses allocated to property taxes.

These data are a product of the BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey. Additional information is available from "Owned Dwelling Expenditures by Region", Report 924, October 1998.