Skip the spouse, buy a house.  Right?  Recently the National Association of Realtors found that single head of household females were outpacing their male counterparts in the first time home buyer surge going on across America.  The percentages from today’s infographic speak clearly to the fact that women value home ownership and are wiling to use a greater amount of disposable income to maintain housing ownership.  In Australia, woman are outpacing their male counterparts also because they no longer need a guarantor for they are encumbering against the home they are purchasing (https://www.westpac.com.au/news/money-matters/2018/02/women-holding-the-keys-to-the-housing-market/).  According to data released in 2006 by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, the three main reasons a single woman would buy a home are:
1. A strong desire to own her own home.
2. Needing more space or wanting smaller home.
3. Relocating closer to job, school or family.

And a 2012 blog post on Redfin revealed that women buying a home are more focused on whether they love it — 46 percent of women first evaluate a home based on this, compared to 24 percent of men. Fifty-four percent of women and 76 percent of men evaluate a property based on cost and value (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/10/single-women-buying-homes_n_3573801.html).

I am all for more woman becoming homeowners.  Neighborhoods that are predominantly owner-occupied tend to be maintained better, safer and maintain higher asset values.  Want to learn more about becoming an owner for the first time?  Send me a message at paul.krause@kw.com Today!