According to a recent survey of buyers and sellers conducted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 21 percent of all homes purchased in 2004 were made by single women, up from 18 percent in 1997. Furthermore, census date reports that the national homeownership rate for households headed by women is 53 percent, up from 48 percent in the 1980s. Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies also adds that single women currently account for nearly 30 percent of first time homebuyers nationwide. And while single women purchased one in five homes in 2004, only one in ten were purchased by single men. Much of this change is being driven by single female first time homebuyers, a demographic that is on the increase in all parts of the country, including the Puget Sound region.

The NAR study stated that the increase in single women homebuyers can be partly attributed to the fact that women are more likely now than in the past to view home buying as a solid investment opportunity, and as an alternative to the struggling stock market and disappointing rate of return on savings accounts. Furthermore, NAR says that more and more women are taking advantage of record low interest rates and accommodating loan products that are available to them.

In the past, home construction and development revolved around the largest home buying demographic — the nuclear family. But recent studies show that demographics are changing and the “non-traditional” buyer, such as single women, are beginning to represent an increasing amount of the home buying population. Furthermore, the nuclear household is in decline.

In the 1950s married couples with children represented more than 80 percent of home owning households — today that demographic represents only 50.7 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And families with breadwinner fathers and stay-at-home mothers represent less than one-tenth of all households. It has been predicted that the traditional married-couples-with-children household will drop even further in the years to come and will be replaced largely by single homeowners, which is heavily represented by women.

Because of this shifting change in demographics, community planners and builders are starting to look at housing development differently. The traditional single-family home that is designed to accommodate the nuclear family is not necessarily the first choice of a single female homebuyer. This could explain the rising sales among town homes and condominiums in recent years. And one-third of condominium buyers are single women, while they only account for about one-fifth of detached single-family home purchases. Realtors say that it isn’t necessarily because of price, but rather because of other factors such as the sense of community and amenities that condo developments provide.

Homeownership is no longer reserved only for families and married couples; the market is quickly seeing an increase is non-traditional buyers, such as single women. With time we will see this demographic shift play an even greater role in shaping future housing development and the real estate industry on a whole.
(Editor’s Note: Realtor® J. Lennox Scott is the Chairman and CEO of John L. Scott Real Estate. You can visit his Web site at www.johnlscott.com.).