The overall costs that are incidental to real estate property ownership. These costs include maintenance expenses, insurance costs, taxes and levies, etc. Carrying charges/ costs in real estate are the recurring expenses paid by an investor during the holding period (the period of time during which the property is held). Carrying charges are a function of an array of factors including a property’s age, location, type of financing, etc. Carrying charges have to be set against the total acquisition cost of a property for an investor to decide whether it is viable to hold the property or not.

Carrying charges are also known as holding costs.