Some markets show tough love for single renters, homebuyers

Dive Brief:

Taken as a whole, single women face more challenges to renting or buying a home affordably in major U.S. metros than do single men, according to a new report from RentCafé that looks at median income by gender in the 50 biggest U.S. cities.
Single men’s average annual take-home pay of $32,451, ahead of single women’s $24,115, makes renting affordably possible in 18 cities compared to just two for women, with 30% of income allocated for housing costs. Both groups could afford to buy in more than half of the top 50 markets, with men qualifying in more markets than women.
Fourteen cities on the list, many of which are among the country’s largest, were unaffordable to single incomes in both groups, including Manhattan, NY, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Diego and San Jose, CA.

Dive Insight:

Although industries nationwide are taking continued steps to mitigate or altogether eliminate the gender pay gap, the disparity is making it difficult for some women to gain a foothold in the property market. What’s more, the RentCafé survey highlighted how owning property in many of the country’s largest markets, particularly those on the East and West coasts, requires multiple incomes.

Still, single women are buying homes in greater numbers than they have been in recent years. A 2016 study from the National Association of Realtors noted that this group accounts for 17% of homebuyers today compared to 11% in 1981. While that’s down from a 22% share at the market’s peak in 2006, they’re outpacing single men (who currently take a 7% share) considerably.

One reason for this disparity, according to the NAR, is that single-women buyers are typically older than single men and married couples that are buying homes. These women may be widowed or divorced, and some have children.

For both single women and single men, the challenge of finding affordable housing, whether renting or buying, has more to do with today’s high costs and low supply.

Available inventory fell for the 23rd-straight month in December, according to Zillow, and was down 4.6% from a year ago. The decline has been felt more acutely in the entry-level segment, which recorded a 6.9% year-over-year decline in December compared to 2.4% for the top third of the market.

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