Increase in single women owning homes, study

Jet, Dec 23, 2002

More single women across the nation are buying their own homes, according to a 2001 report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Many of the women are young, some are divorced with children and others are lesbian couples.

The study found that the homeownership rate for female-headed households has grown from 48 percent in the early 1980s to 53 percent in 2000.

The study also found that the number of female first-time home buyers under the age of 45 living alone rose 65 percent between 1985 and 1999.

"The trend of single women owning homes is one of the most significant changes in the housing market in the last decade," Nicolas Retsinas, the Joint Center's director, said in the Chicago Tribune.

Retsinas said lower down-payment requirements, increased participation of women in the economy and a "greater realization that a home is really not a bad investment" are all reasons for the change.