Single Women More Likely to Own Home

Single women have recently been shown in commercials and advertisements buying homes and signing mortgage loans more than men. MortgageNewsDaily.com’s “Single Women Home Buyers Finding a Home of Their Own,” explains why these advertisements have become a reality.

Single women are currently are the fastest growing demographic of home buyers in the United States. In 2003, the National Association of Realtors reported that single women were responsible for buying approximately 20 percent (1.7 million) of U.S. home sales.

“The same study found that single women were much more likely to own their own homes by a margin of 56 percent to 47 percent over single men. A Harvard University study noted that single women accounted for 30 percent of total homeowner growth between 1994 and 2002.”

There are several factors that have lead to the increase of women owning homes. “Increased wages have boosted female homeownership as the gender gap in pay continues to slowly narrow. Another major factor is the increased availability of financing for women. Not so many years ago a woman seeking to buy a house faced formidable obstacles to obtaining a mortgage - or any kind of credit for that matter.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are responsible for initiating outreach programs that were intended to help women and minorities obtain homeownership.

“For example, divorced women are frequently given first time buyer status even if they owned a home in the marriage, making many low down payment or subsidized loans available to them. Child support payments can now be counted as income, bolstering many newly single parent's ability to qualify for a mortgage.”

These are reasons of how women are now able to buy homes, but their motivation is why they are buying homes at a steadily climbing rate. Many woman are buying homes now not just for themselves or family, but for an investment. Single women are responsible for 13 percent of second home ownership.

Census Bureau figures also contribute to the increase in home ownership by single women. The average age a woman now gets married is 26, compared to 20, in 1960. This leads to more time to establish credit and buy a home. The current divorce rate of almost 50 percent has left many women to be in need of buying a home.

Another major factor is that women outlive men by an average of five years. As a result, women often are left with a large residence and downsize once they become a widow.

“In a 2003 study conducted by Sears Roebuck and quoted in an article by the Mercer County (CA) Chamber of Commerce, 85 percent of the women surveyed had been or figured they will be solely responsible for a home at some point in their lives.”

Women have developed an increasingly independent attitude. There is independence in owning a home, especially when you own a home without any assistance.

Back to Articles