The worst housing market in years couldn’t stop single women from buying

According to a new analysis from First American, more single women own homes in the United States than ever before—even as the share of women who own has edged down and buying a house has never been harder. 

Although the homeownership rate among single women dipped last year from about 51.9% to 50.9%, that hasn’t stopped more than 20 million single women from becoming homeowners, a record high.

As more women set up households of their own, the pool of single women has grown faster than the number of owners, pulling the above percentage down even as the total count climbs to a record.​ But that decline isn’t a sign of retreat. “The rate fell not because fewer women owned homes, but because more women formed independent households,” Matt Schulz, chief consumer finance analyst at LendingTree, told Fortune.

The First American findings are the latest data point in a multi‑decade trend documented by the National Association of Realtors. In 1981, single women made up just 11% of home buyers; today they account for 21%—nearly double their share—and trail only married couples as the largest buyer group. 

Among first‑time buyers, their footprint is even larger. Single women made up a quarter of all first‑time buyers in 2025, compared with just 10% for single men and 50% for married couples.​

“We continue to see that single women are truly a force in the market,” said Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at NAR. “They’ve always outpaced single men in the market.” That holds across age groups—from younger buyers entering for the first time to older women purchasing after a divorce or the death of a spouse.

Homeownership as a means of stability

What sets single women apart, Lautz said, is their deliberate pursuit of ownership. NAR survey data show single women are more likely than single men to cut non‑essential spending, cancel vacations, and take on extra work to save for a down payment. “Single women are making more financial sacrifices,” she told Fortune. “They’re really just saying this is my top financial priority.”​

Much of that drive comes down to caregiving. Single women buyers are more likely to be raising children on their own or supporting aging parents, making a stable address—with a locked‑in school district and proximity to family—a practical necessity as much as a financial goal. 

“Knowing exactly where they’re going to live and not having to change location for schools or for hospital settings or anything like that for parents” is part of what motivates them, Lautz said. Schulz added that many are buying intentionally before marriage and family, not after, treating a mortgage as a foundation for independence rather than a milestone that follows it.

The demographic fueling these purchases has also shifted. First American’s data show that gains in education and earnings have strengthened single women’s buying power over time—the share with a bachelor’s degree or higher rose from 20% in 2000 to 35% in 2025, while real median income climbed from roughly $42,000 to $51,000. The trend mirrors another, broader shift: just 47% of U.S. adults are now married, according to census data, down from prior decades

Lautz said NAR’s latest survey shows something even more striking: for the first time in the data she has tracked since she started at NAR in 2007, single women homebuyers are reporting higher incomes than single men homebuyers. “I don’t know if it’s a one‑year anomaly,” she cautioned, “but I do think that perhaps single women, regardless of earnings, are saying this is a top priority and I’m going to get there.”

​The wealth-building stakes are high

Not all single women buyers look the same. NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers shows that among Black buyers, 39% are single women—nearly matching the 42% who are married couples, and far higher than the single‑women share among White (20%), Asian/Pacific Islander (19%), or Hispanic/Latino (18%) buyers. Lautz said that in NAR’s separate “Snapshot on Race and Home Buying,” Black women have consistently “outpaced women of other racial and ethnic groups” as homebuyers, reflecting a group that is leaning especially hard on property as a tool for long‑term wealth and stability.

The stakes behind these decisions are enormous. “Homeownership is the number one way that we build wealth in America,” Lautz said, pointing to NAR data showing that the typical homeowner holds roughly $430,000 in net worth compared with just $10,000 for the typical renter. For single women navigating an unaffordable market on one income, clearing that gap can be life‑changing.​

“If single women are jumping onto the bandwagon of homeownership, that means long‑term stability for her moving forward,” Lautz says, “whether that’s a single mom, someone taking care of elderly parents, or maybe it’s just herself.” In a housing market defined by locked‑in sellers, scarce inventory, and stubbornly high mortgage rates, single women keep finding a way to close. And in doing so, they’re redefining who the American homeowner actually is.