Up until the housing crisis, single women in the U.S. bought houses more often than their single male counterparts. While the share of single female homebuyers tapered off as mortgages became harder to come by in the wake of the crisis, the tide may change in 2016.
The percentage of single female homebuyers dropped to 15% this year from 21% in 2009, but it looks that share is about to make a comeback, reported Bloomberg.
There’s a few data points that Bloomberg compiled to reach this conclusion, but the most important factor is income. Single women are earning more money. In cities like Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and San Diego, there’s been a significant rise in the share of women earning more than $100,000 over the past three years. That hasn’t necessarily been true for men, whose share making over $100,000 decreased in Boston, Seattle, and San Diego, for comparison. According to the publication:
Rising incomes may be especially important because single female homebuyers have traditionally stretched their budgets to buy homes, said Jessica Lautz, managing director of survey research for the National Association of Realtors. Many of them are single mothers or widows, said Lautz: “They are making sacrifices financially because they have a really strong desire to be a part of a community.”
These women raking in the big bucks will be more likely to enter the housing market on their own terms, without having to make the same sacrifices required by other traditional single female homebuyers referenced by Lautz.