American households come in many shapes and sizes these days due to new career opportunities and financial independence for women. Studies show that women are not only having kids at an older average age, but more are earning college degrees and surpassing their male partners as the family’s breadwinner. As women become more self-sufficient it only makes sense that more women are buying houses independently as well.
The National Association of Realtors’ housing trends report showed that single females made up 18% of homebuyers in 2019 with single men only making up 8%. That being said, a Yale study found that single females pay around 2% more when purchasing a home than men, but sell it for 2% less. While this gap might not seem like much at first, after factoring in mortgage costs, single women are losing roughly $1,600 per year on average compared to single men.
There is a lot more at stake for women than saving money when it comes to this housing gap. While women can’t control others’ perceptions or actions, there are things women can do to improve their home buying experience and outcomes.
What to do about this gender housing gap? The folks at Rocket Mortgage collected 13 actionable tips from industry experts to arm women with the know-how to feel confident and take their negotiation skills to the next level. From evaluating comparable sales to learning more about the seller’s motivations they’ve created a visual that will arm women in every stage of home buying to get a better outcome and help close the women’s housing gap. View their infographic below.
