If homeownership is important to wealth creation, more single women now are building a strong financial future via the housing market than are single men.
According to the National Association of Realtors, 21% of homebuyers these days are single women versus just 9% of single men. (The remaining 61% of homebuyers are married couples.) So, more than twice as many single women are buying homes as are single men—despite the fact that women earn, on average, 81% to 84% of what men earn.
To achieve that, it turns out that 41% of women are willing to make financial sacrifices to afford a home—such as cutting spending on clothing, vacations, entertainment, and non-essential goods—while just 31% of men are willing to do the same. Women are also more open to taking on a second job to finance homebuying.
Gender differences show up as well in the motivation to buy a home. Men are more likely to buy a home because they’re retiring (11%) versus just 5% of women. When single women buy a home, they often have children under age 18 living with them, or multiple generations. For these women, homebuying is key to stabilizing living expenses as well as guaranteeing where their children will attend school.
You can thank lawmakers for such freedom. Fifty years ago, an unmarried woman could not obtain a mortgage without a male co-signer on the loan. That changed in 1974 when the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed. Today it is unlawful for creditors to discriminate against applicants based on gender or marital status—meaning a woman can qualify for a mortgage entirely on her own.
For more info: https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/where-single-women-are-leading-the-market