Women have created a gender gap among homeowners.
Single women outnumbered men as first-time homebuyers, Inman reported. The number of single women who purchased a home this year was unchanged at 18 percent year-over-year, while single men were at 9 percent — up from 7 percent last year.
Married couples dominate the buyer pool at 63 percent, but women have consistently outpaced men, the report said.
“Single females have always been second only to married couples in the housing market and outpaced single men,”Jessica Lautz, NAR’s director of demographics and behavioral insights, told Inman. “Single females are more likely to have both children under the age of 18 in their home and being caring for others as multi-generational home buyers.”
But single men do purchase pricier homes though. They paid a median cost of $215,000, compared to $189,000 for women.
The report comes has home sales overall have fallen. New construction home sales saw the fourth straight decline in September, falling 13 percent year-over-year.
At the same time, the overall number of first-time buyers has been sliding too. The portion fell slightly to 33 percent as compared to 34 percent the previous year, according to the report. [Inman] — Meenal Vamburkar