A Closer Look At Gender Equality In Homeownership
By CHUCK GREEN
In the battle of the sexes, single fathers are more likely to be homeowners in metro areas, while single women who live by themselves are more likely to own a home in nearly every state.
A recent report by Senior Economist Jacob Channel at LendingTree states that single fathers are less common than single mothers, but they are more likely to be homeowners in metro areas.
Analysts at LendingTree found that in the nation’s 50 largest metros, 1.53 million households are occupied by single fathers and their children younger than 18. Homeownership rates among single fathers come in at around 49%.
Conversely, while 4.23 million households are occupied by single mothers and their children under the age of 18, the rate of homeownership among this group is only around 34% in the nation’s 50 largest metros.
Channel told The Mortgage Note the study suggests that “even though single moms are more likely to be the parents who are given custody of a child, they’re less likely to meet certain financial milestones like becoming homeowners.”
What’s more, the data illustrates how — regardless of their gender — a single parent is less likely to be a homeowner than a married couple is. Married couples with children have a 76% homeownership rate, according to the report.
“This goes to show how tough it can be for any single person to afford a home in today’s expensive housing market, especially if they’ve also got to worry about supporting a child,” Channel said.
Put another way, “our study suggests that even if single dads are often better off financially than single moms, they still face plenty of challenges — both social and financial — that can make their job as a single parent anything but easy.”
Channel’s report states homeownership rates are highest among single fathers in Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. The homeownership rate for single dads in these metros averages 68.7%.
Single women are outpacing single men in homeownership nationally.
A separate report by Channel shows that single women own more homes than single men. Analysts looked at statewide data to determine single women who live by themselves are more likely than single men who live by themselves to own a home in 47 of 50 states.
Key findings from this report include that across the United States, single women own 2.71 million more homes than single men. Single women own 10.95 million homes, while single men own 8.24 million.
The report says single women own an average of 12.9% of the owner-occupied homes across the 50 states, versus 10.2% among single men.
Delaware, Louisiana, and Mississippi have the highest single-women homeownership rates. Alaska, North Dakota, and South Dakota are the only states where single men own a higher share of homes than single women, according to this report.
Single women are also outpacing single men in buying homes.
The National Association of Realtors 2024 annual homebuyer and sellers generational trend report shows single women bought homes at higher rates than single men last year. Analysts found single women accounted for 19% of homebuyers, while single men made up 10%.
NAR’s Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz was quoted in an article by The Hill as saying women have a disproportionate amount of caregiving responsibilities and in addition to having children, they may also have an elderly relative at home they are caring for.
Additionally, women traditionally put an emphasis on homeownership, Lautz said. In 1981, single women made up 11% of homebuyers compared to 10% of men.
What does this mean for single men and women?
Michael Collins, founder and CEO at WinCap Financial in Boston, told The Mortgage Note these findings suggest that the amount of income a single person is making isn’t the only factor that they should consider when choosing where to live.
“Factors such as the cost of housing and commute time should also be factored into the decision of where single people should move,” Collins said.
Sharon Cornelissen, director of housing at the Consumer Federation of America in Washington, DC, said that “given the ways that rents and home prices have escalated drastically since the pandemic in virtually all housing markets across the country, historically disinvested cities such as Cleveland and Detroit might look more attractive as places where people — including single parents — might still be able to buy a home.”
Cornelissen said the ability to buy a home should be considered together with locally available job opportunities, “and for many parents, the quality of local public schools as well.”
According to The Annie E. Casey Foundation, more than 23 million children reside in a single-parent family in the U.S. Over the past half century, this number has spiked, fueled by numerous geographic trends such as a dip in the rate of marriage, rising divorce rates, and a growing number of babies born to single mothers.
Editor Kimberley Haas contributed to this report.