How Mortgage Demographics are Changing

Do you know what the fastest-growing group of homebuyers in the country is? It’s single women. In fact, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported in 2006 that one in five homebuyers was a single woman. They are buying homes in greater numbers than single men: 21 percent female versus 9 percent male.

Researchers report that women want to nest earlier than men and are increasingly getting the financial power to do it. Women are narrowing the wage gap and today are much more likely to have a college degree than men. In 2005, government data shows women who were full-time wage and salary workers and median weekly earnings of $585, or 81 percent of the $722 median for their male counterparts, up from about 63 percent in 1979.

So what about married couples? They make up 60 percent of home-buyers, according to the NAR, but that figure is sliding. Current figures are down from 70 percent only twelve years ago. Those who are getting married are doing so later. The average age of marriage in 1960 was twenty-three for American men and twenty for American women. In 2005, it was twenty-seven for men, twenty-six for women.

According to a 2002 Rutgers University study, divorced women are less likely to remarry than divorced men, and if they do remarry, they tend to wait a lot longer. That gives them more time to become homeowners. And a 2003 Sears, Roebuck and Company survey showed that 92 percent of the women surveyed viewed their homes as an investment rather than a drain on their financial resources. The survey also said that 13 percent of women are buying second and vacation homes. Also rising is the number of single buying older homes, renovating them, and selling for a profit.

Anyone preparing to borrow for her first mortgage should make sure her credit reports don’t reflect incorrect data or have consistent occurrences of late or missed payments. Lenders look down on slow payers, and incorrect data could mean possible identity theft. Sites like www.homeloansfargo.com have information on the different ways that you can borrow money in order to buy a house.

The news is not good for all demographic groups. A December 2006 study by the Center of American Progress said home ownership growth slowed markedly for newer, younger homebuyers. Compared to the late 1990s, increases in homeownership rates after 2000 dropped by about three quarters in African American, by about half for whites, and by about one quarter for Hispanics. Since the end of 2004, U.S. Census Bureau data shows that ownership rates, particularly for African Americans, actually declined. The main reason was sky-high home values, which haven’t really fallen all the much – despite general slowdowns in regional housing markets. You will find more information about home loans on www.minneapolismortgagebrokers.org/