Single women homeowners on the rise
According to Redfin, single women are a growing share of homeowners, based on data from the National Association of Realtors, Loans.org, and U.S. News & World Report, combined with their own Real-Time Home-Buyer report of 1,353 active home buyers who have recently toured homes with Redfin.
Since the mid-1990s, single women have purchased homes at nearly twice the rate as single men, according to the National Association of Realtors, and Redfin now offers data revealing several important facts about female buyers’ preferences and behaviors and how they differ from single men. Men are more likely to buy short sales and foreclosures and are more likely to invest, while single women are buying a home they love.
Single women are most likely to look for a home when they are between the ages of 25-34, with 54 percent of single women looking for a home landing in that age bracket, compared with 53 percent of single men. Fully 21 percent of single women and 29 percent of single men looking to buy a home alone were between the ages of 35-44.
Priorities and buying habits
Redfin says that single women look for a home they love; single men prioritize a good value. While 46 percent of women buying a home on their own said they rely on their emotions to evaluate a home, while only 24 percent of single men evaluate a home based on emotions.
Single men are more likely to buy a home for investment purposes (7 percent) or to renovate and flip (2 percent) compared to single women buying for investment reasons (3 percent), and 0.0 percent planning to renovate and flip their purchased home.
Single women were much less likely to buy a short sale or a foreclosure (13 percent) than single men (30 percent) and both genders were equally interested in buying a new home or a conventional sale, where the owner is the seller (60 percent).
Facing rising prices, single women said they would be more likely than men to step back or to do whatever it takes to secure the home; single men said they are more likely to stay disciplined. More than half (54 percent) of single women said they would stay disciplined, 30 percent said they would step back, and 16 percent would do whatever it takes. Comparatively, 66 percent of men buying alone said they would stay disciplined, 23 percent said they would take a step back, and 12 percent said they would do whatever it takes.
