Monday Market Update: A Galentine’s Day Tribute To Single Women Homebuyers

Did you know that women were legally prohibited from obtaining a mortgage without a co-signer until 1974?! Prior to the Fair Housing Act & Equal Credit Opportunity Act, even widows needed a male co-signer to purchase a home. Yet against all odds, single women are the second most likely to buy homes – with the #1 most common buyer type a married couple.

Whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or not, we invite you to celebrate Galentine’s Day along with NAR® as we share 5 things you may not know about single women & home ownership.

#1: Did you know that women could not access a line of credit independently without a man to cosign her application until the mid-1970’s? This includes credit cards, mortgages, etc. Another full decade passed before courts ruled that a husband could not take out a second mortgage on a jointly held property without his wife.

#2: Historically since data tracking in 1981, women have been the second most common homebuyer type behind married couples. In 1981 – 73% of homebuyers were married couples, 11% were single women and 10% were single men. Today, homebuyer make-up is 61% married couples, 17% single women and 9% single men.

#3: The highest share of single women home ownership was 22% in 2006, compared to a single male high of 12% in 2010.

#4: Women homeowners are especially notable given the pay gap; women FTHBs typically purchase a home with a median household income of $51,400 compared to male FTHBs at $64,100.

#5: In deciding where to buy a home, 41% of women consider proximity to friends and family to be a priority, compared to 35% of men. The biggest priority difference is that 18% of men cite retirement as a reason to buy a home, compared to just 5% of women.

All information from today’s blog is courtesy of the team at NAR®, we encourage you to read Celebrating the Single Women Home Buyers for Galentine’s Day and Women Home Buyers in full for more detail.

All my best,

Bobbi 

Bobbi Decker
DRE#00607999

Broker Associate, Bobbi Decker & Associates
650.346.5352 cell
650.577.3127 efax
www.bobbidecker.com
NAR Instructor….“Designations Create Distinctions”
CIPS, SRS, ABR, CRS, SRES, GRI, CLHMS, REI, AHWD, RSPS, MSLG

Bobbi Decker & Associates fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. For more information, please visit: http://portal.hud.gov/