All the single ladies! Women are winning the real estate war as solo females own 13% of homes compared to just 10% by bachelors

• Single women own more homes than single men across the US and as the gap widens, experts say the trend is ’empowering’ 
• Women are often choosing to buy by themselves even when they are in relationships as they are in a stronger financial position

Just sixty years have passed since women weren’t allowed to get a mortgage on their own and now single women own more homes than single men.

Across the US, single women own 13 percent of all properties – equivalent to 10.95 million homes – while single men own just 10.2 percent – equivalent to 8.24 million homes.

The data is based on an analysis of census data by loan marketplace, Lending Tree, and defines single women as ‘women who live by themselves’. 

Delaware has the highest proportion of homes owned by single women at 15.34 percent of all homes, followed closely by Louisiana on 15.19 percent and Mississippi on 14.84 percent. 

There are only three states where single men own more homes than single women: Alaska, North Dakota and South Dakota. 

The Pew Research Center says the gap is ‘due more to [women’s] numbers than their economic power’ and adds that women tend to outnumber men in most age categories as well as in life expectancy. 

A separate report from mortgage platform Maxwell found the number of women applying for mortgages on their own is going up – reaching 22 percent of the entire market last year.

They found 55 percent of single women buyers are 34 or younger. 

Melissa Langdale, President and COO of The Mortgage Collaborative, told Maxwell: ‘The data on single women home buyers is empowering. 

‘It clearly shows women value homeownership and aren’t waiting on a life event like marriage or the perfect economic conditions to purchase a home.

‘They’re being practical and are willing to make compromises to seek out affordable solutions for their single income budgets.’ 

And they add that number of female-led homes is going up too. 

In 1990, less than a third of households – both married and single – were headed by females, and in 2021, 51 percent claimed to be women-led. 

In their Single Women Homebuyer Report, Maxwell say women ‘decide to purchase on their own for diverse reasons.’ 

They added that a third of female buyers have a partner, but decide to buy alone because ‘they’re the breadwinner or have strong credit or savings’.  

Meanwhile, last November, data from the National Association of Realtors estimated that single females made up 19 percent of American prospective homebuyers – almost double that of single men.

This is a stark contrast from 40 years ago, when the portion of single women and men buying homes was roughly the same – at 11 percent and 10 percent respectively.

As of 2023, the proportion of single men purchasing property has stayed steady at 10 percent

According to the NAR, the share of recent buyers who are married couples has also dropped to 59 percent – the lowest level since 2010.

In 1981, when the organization began analyzing the profiles of buyers and sellers, married couples made up 73 percent of homeowners.