The Burrow
Dec 15, 2025
As property prices rise worldwide, many homes on the market may be showing signs of age, putting buyers at risk of costly repairs further down the line and if not done, could lower their market value when it comes time to sell.
From leaky roofs to plumbing problems, home damage can accumulate over time and cause a variety of issues if left unaddressed. But which regions in the United States and Australia are the most at risk of expensive home maintenance?
To find out, the home insurance experts at Compare the Market have analysed which US and Australian states face the most expensive property repairs on average. By researching factors such as household size, mortgage costs relative to annual income, and search volume for various home repairs, we assigned each region a score on our Home Maintenance Risk Index.
Here’s what we learned from our research.
Each state in our rankings was assigned a score between 0 and 100, with higher scores indicating a higher risk of costly home repairs. Based on our results, here are the five US states that scored the highest in our data:
The District of Columbia (Washington, D.C to locals) scored 71.45 out of 100 in our index, with homeowners in that region more likely to experience high maintenance costs. It’s the region with the highest proportion of old buildings, as 31.7% of its homes were constructed before the 1940s, and its extreme population density of 4,445/km² means its streets can be exceptionally crowded.
D.C. had the highest online search interest in home maintenance nationwide, with 8,742 Google searches per 100k residents over the last 12 months. These factors, combined with residents paying an average of 31.9% of their annual income on their mortgage, contribute to its high score, ranking it first in our index.
New York is known for some of the highest housing prices in the US, with a typical resident paying more than a third (34.6%) of their household income towards mortgages each year. However, with 30.5% of houses built before the 1940s, New Yorkers are also at high risk of paying maintenance bills that further drive up the cost of living.
The median build year of New York’s housing is 1958, making it the state with the second-oldest buildings on average. It also ranks second in search volume for home repairs, with 4,422 queries recorded per 100k New Yorkers last year. With an overall score of 54.95 out of 100 on our Home Maintenance Risk Index, it could be one of the most prone states for costly repairs.
Spending 60.7% of average annual income on mortgage payments, Connecticut is the US state with the most expensive housing relative to its income. Despite having a median household build year of 1967, around one in five of its homes (20.4%) was built before 1940, putting many homeowners at risk of damage.
It’s also the fifth-most densely populated state in America, with 293 residents per km2 and 2.45 people per household on average. Combined with high online search interest in home repairs, with 2,964 searches per 100k people last year, its overall score of 52.52 out of 100 makes it the state with the third-highest risk of expensive maintenance.
Massachusetts ranked fourth in our Home Maintenance Risk Index with score of 49.73 out of 100. With 30.7% of its houses built before 1940 and 2,404 home repair searches per 100k residents, its ageing properties are causing issues for homeowners. It’s also the fourth most densely populated state in the US with 353.2 people per km².
Massachusetts ranks as the state that spends the seventh-highest portion of its average income on mortgage payments, with the typical household spending 38.9% of their income.
Completing the top five is Rhode Island, with a score of 46.05 out of 100 on our Home Maintenance Risk Index. As the smallest state in the US, it’s unsurprising to see it rank among the top five for population density, with 415.4 people per km2. Its ageing properties also pose a risk for homeowners, with the median household built in 1961 and 30.4% of the city’s buildings erected before 1940.
Rhode Island also shows a high interest in home repairs, with 2,472 online searches per 100k residents for the topic last year.
Despite having some of the harshest weather in the US, Alaska ranks as the state with the lowest risk of expensive repairs, thanks to its newly built housing and low mortgages, with households spending an average of 23.8% of their annual income going towards payments.
Only 1.8% of the state’s homes were built before 1940, with a median year of construction of 1985. It’s also the least densely populated state in the US, with just 0.5 people per km². Furthermore, it has the lowest home repair search interest in the country with 1,070 searches per 100k people in the last year. Alaska scored 16.86 out of 100, followed by Nevada with a score of 20.09, and Arizona ranks third-lowest overall.
Moving to Australia, let’s look at which states and territories are at risk of the highest levels of home maintenance requirements.
The Australian Capital Territory had the highest risk of expensive home repairs in the country, with a score of 55 out of 100 overall. Due to its high population in a small area – with 201 people per km2, it’s more than five times as crowded as Victoria, the second-most densely populated state.
Although the ACT has the most affordable mortgages in Australia compared to its average salary, with a typical household spending just 20.2% of its annual income on their mortgage. The area does show considerable concern for house upkeep, with 2,727 home repair searches per 100k people last year.
New South Wales reported to have the most expensive housing costs in Australia compared to their income, with residents spending 27.3% on average of their household’s income on mortgage payments. It’s also the state with the third-highest population density in the country, with 10.6 people per km2, and the second-most people per household (2.6).
With 1,370 home repair searches per 100k residents, it has the second-most online interest in Australia for maintenance queries. These combined gave it an index score of 48.99 out of 100.
Despite Western Australia being one of the most sparsely populated regions in the country, with 1.2 residents per km2, according to the research it’s ranked third-highest at risk of expensive housing maintenance costs. A typical household in Western Australia has 2.5 people, and has an average of 3.3 bedrooms per home, which was the highest in the country.
A typical WA household reported spending an average of 23.4% of their income on mortgage payments, followed by 1,092 home repair searches per 100k people, outweighing its low population and with an index score of 39.56 out of 100 overall.
Queensland ranked fourth in our Home Maintenance Risk Index, with households reporting an average of 23.9% of their income goes towards mortgage payments. Queensland homes feature an average of 3.2 bedrooms and 2.5 people per household.
Queensland saw 1,243 home maintenance search enquiries per 100k people in the past year, with a total score of 37.39 out of 100.
Victoria rounds out our top five Australian states and territories for the highest risk of expensive home repairs. Victoria had the second highest housing prices with households spending an average of 24.4% of their income on mortgage payments. The state also has the second highest population density of 30.7 people per km2 which contributes to its score.
Victoria had the third-highest home maintenance search volume in the country, with 1,330 searches per 100k people last year, giving it a final score of 37.33 out of 100 overall for our Home Maintenance Risk Index.
Tasmania has the least risk of high maintenance bills in Australia, due to low mortgage costs and low home repair search volume. The state saw just 700 searches per 100k residents for house upkeep-related queries last year, and its average household size of 2.4 people is Australia’s lowest. The island state finished with a total score of 13.69 out of 100.
Adrian Taylor, Executive General Manager of General Insurance comments: “This research highlights homeowners in the ACT, New South Wales, and Western Australia face some of the highest risks of costly maintenance due to older housing, higher mortgage repayments, and strong demand searches for repairs. While routine upkeep and wear‑and‑tear aren’t covered by insurance, a comprehensive home insurance policy remains essential for protecting against unexpected events such as fire, storm, or theft.
“For Australians living in regions with higher maintenance risk, insurance acts as a financial safeguard and ensuring that sudden damage doesn’t compound the already heavy costs of mortgages and repairs. Comparing policies across a range of providers can help households balance affordability with coverage, helping give peace of mind to homeowners.”
This dataset contains two rankings: for the United States and Australia based on their associated home maintenance risk, using six key factors for the US and five key factors for Australia. Each factor’s data was collected and normalised to a score between 0 and 1. If data was missing, a score of zero was given. These scores were then combined to give each state/territory a total score out of 100, and states and territories were ranked from highest to lowest.
The factors used are as follows:
The factors were indexed as follows:
All data is correct as of 6th November 25. The ranking data shown is a compilation of multiple data sources and may not be representative of real life. All data is accurate with regard to the sources provided.