HOA Dues Comparison Research

We have focused on keeping the dues low for many years.  In my opinion, this has led to the lack of adequate maintenance and infrastructure improvements.  These, in turn, have contributed to an image of an aging neighborhood in decline. To test this theory, I gathered the sales data over the last eleven years (2010 – 2020) for several of the communities in our area and plotted them versus time.

The following data show correlation between the money available to spend and the observed price increase.

	Appraised Value Range1	Price/sq.ft. Increase from 2010 to 20202	Number of Homes	HOA Dues	Pools	Tennis Courts	Clubhouse + Common Areas3	Dues/Amenities4
Heathlake	260 – 560	16%	312	700	1	2	2	$43,680
Ashford (ACA)	210 – 650	55%	932	625	2	4	2	$72,813
Yorkshire	800 – 1300	78%	150	850	0	0	1	$127,500
Lakes of Parkway5	600 – 1200	14%	873	2600	1	2	2	$453,960
Village Place	350 – 900	48%	517	800	1	4	2	$59,086
South Briar	260 – 350	65%	803	675	1	4	2	$77,432
Briar Hills	240 – 370	59%	440	700	1	2	2	$61,600
Westchester	150 – 615	54%	486	784	1	1	2	$95,256
Nottingham6	440 – 770	65%	932	650	1	5	2	$75,725
Notes	1 Appraisal Value ranges were those reported by HAR and only provide an approximate range
	2 Price/Sq.ft. increases are based on actual sales values per share foot for the year 2010 and 2020
	3 In an attempt to quantify amenities in some way Common Areas that require landscaping were added   to clubhouses
	4 In order to get a rough approximation of the money available to care for the amenities, the HOA dues times the number of homes was divided by the sum of the amenities (Pools+Tennis Courts+ Clubhouse+Common Areas)
	5 Lakes of Lakeside is a gated community with 24 hour security and is, therefore, not comparable to other communities in this table
	6 Nottingham Forest also collects a substantial amount of money from $450/yr Tennis memberships that is not reflected in these numbers

Heathlake has more amenities to maintain and collects less dues to do it.  The last column shows a simplistic ratio of the dollars we collect to the number of amenities that must be maintained, and does not mean to imply that each amenity costs this much to care for.

This post was researched and written by the Heathlake board member John Trahan and edited / approved by the rest of the board (Sara Mammadova, Stephen Read, Per Voie, and Mary Puccini)