America's property taxes rose at their fastest rate in FIVE years in 2023 with owners in some states forced to pay TEN times more than others - how does YOUR area compare?

Americans paid $363.3 billion in property taxes in 2023 after levies shot up at their fastest rate in five years, new data shows.

A report by real estate data firm ATTOM found the figure rose by 6.9 percent from $339.8 billion in 2022, having already increased 3.6 percent the year prior.

The average tax on a single-family property is now $4,062 per year as homeowners face a perfect storm of declining house prices and soaring tax bills.

Illinois has the highest effective property tax rate of any US state, with residents paying 1.88 percent of their home values. 

It was followed by New Jersey and Connecticut where owners pay 1.64 percent and 1.54 percent respectively.

All top ten states with the highest levies were based in the Northeast or Midwest, ATTOM found.

By contrast, Hawaii has the lowest property tax levy - worth 0.31 percent of a home's value.

Arizona had the second cheapest of 0.41 percent followed by Alabama with 0.42 percent.

In real terms, it means residents in some states are paying on average ten times more in bills than those elsewhere. 

For example, in New Jersey, the average owner of a single-family home faced a $9,488 levy in 2023. 

But in West Virginia the typical bill was just $989 - the smallest average sum of any state.

ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said: 'Property taxes took an unusually high turn upward last year, pushing effective rates up, while huge gaps in average tax bills between different parts of country remained in place.

'The tax increases were likely connected, at least in part, to inflationary pressures on the cost of operating local governments and schools, along with rising public employee wages and other major expenses.'

He added that the disparity in rates across the country was due to varying levels of government services and different local economies.

Property taxes tend to rise in hot real estate markets when there is high housing demand and low available stock. They may also rise when local governments and schools need more funding.  

According to ATTOM's data, property values declined by 1.7 percent in 2023 as soaring mortgage rates stalled buyer activity.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage is now 6.79 percent, according to government-backed lender Freddie Mac. 

This is more than double where they were three years ago when they were hovering at 3.17 percent.

It means a buyer purchasing a $400,000 property today faces monthly payments of $2,474. This analysis assumes a 5 percent downpayment.

However, had they bought in March 2021, this figure would be just $1,637 - a difference of $800 per month.

Higher rates have created a so-called 'lock-in effect' on Ameria's property market as owners are reluctant to move and give up the cheap deals they secured in recent years.

Experts are divided over where the housing market is now headed after prices remained surprisingly resilient.

Last week Shark Tank star Barbara Corcoran predicted even the smallest drop in mortgage rates would cause property values to shoot up.

She told Fox Business: 'If rates go down, just another percentage point, prices are going to go through the roof.'