Article Courtesy of  The Palm Beach Post

By Jeff Ostrowski  

Published March 19, 2017

South Florida is synonymous with condo commandos and gated golf-course communities, so it’s no surprise that our region tops Trulia’s list of metro areas with the largest share of homeowners who pay fees to homeowners associations.
  

Among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, Broward County is No. 1, with 32.5 percent of households paying HOA fees. Palm Beach County is next at 29.8 percent, followed by Miami-Dade County at 27.6 percent. By contrast, HOA fees are practically unheard of in Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Sacramento. In those metro areas, fewer than 5 percent of homeowners paid HOA fees in 2015, Trulia says in its report, released Wednesday. South Florida’s market is skewed by the region’s large share of condos and townhouses. Meanwhile, South Florida’s percentage of homeowners paying HOA fees fell over the past decade. In Palm Beach County, nearly a third of homeowners were part of HOAs in 2005, Trulia says.

Running community pools, golf courses and guardhouses doesn’t come cheap. From 2005 to 2014, HOA fees rose 32 percent, outpacing the 15 percent jump in the median U.S. home price, Trulia said.

New York had the nation’s highest condo fees at an average at $571 a month, followed by Long Island’s $498, San Francisco’s $464, Philadelphia’s $449, Miami’s $415 and Palm Beach County’s $399 a month.