Single and ready for homeownership
Single and ready to buy a home? Apparently, your chances are better than they’ve ever been. According to a new analysis, single homeownership is at its highest rate since at least 1900.
Single homeownership is at an all-time high
Single Americans now own nearly 40% of the country’s housing stock, according to a new analysis from Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at Haus.
According to McLaughlin, the jump in these shares boils down to something pretty simple: fewer people are getting married.
“Why are singles increasingly owning homes?,” McLaughlin asks. “There are many reasons, but the elephant in the room is that there is a higher share of the U.S. population that is single.”
At the gender level, single males account for about 15% of all homeowners, while almost a quarter are female. Consistently, the female share of single homeowners has always been larger. McLaughlin says there are three reasons behind this: a higher number of widowers among women, a smaller likelihood of remarriage, and a larger number of women than men, population-wise.
Legit ways to buy a house with little or no money out of pocket
The most single homeowners
Interestingly, an increasing share of today’s single homeowners are younger and have never been married at all. In fact, of the nation’s under-35 homeowners, about a third have never been married, while nearly 15% of those 35 to 54 haven’t either.
Previously, high divorce rates drove homeownership rates among singles. Since 2000, though, rates of divorce have actually fallen — at least among these age groups.
Geographically speaking, the most single, under-35 homeowners are seen in Des Moines, Iowa, where they make up 23.7% of all homeowners. Detroit also claims a high share at 21%.
The smallest shares are in high-cost Western cities like Provo, Utah (only 4.8% of homeowners are single and under 35), San Jose, Calif. (6.8%), and San Diego (7.9%).
11 first-time homebuyer mistakes to avoid
Get today’s mortgage rates
Want to join the ranks and become a single homeowner yourself? Shop around and see what rates you qualify for today.
