Single women own more homes than single men. And this is not just by an extra couple hundred or thousand. They own roughly 1.5 million more. Yet this big win for single women—homeownership is a huge driver in wealth accumulation in America—comes with one caveat: Single women pay more for homes and sell them for less than single men do for similar ones by two percent, which translates to $5,000 for a $250,000 home. This outcome is driven by multiple factors working together such as when women choose to sell or the fact that men statistically choose riskier properties.
Single women have closed one gender gap just to open another. According to a new analysis from loan marketplace LendingTree, single women own more homes than single men do—about 1.5 million more, to be exact.
But while single women may win out on homeownership rates in general, they don’t come out on top financially.
In fact, according to a new study from Yale, single women are buying homes for an average of 2% more than their single male counterparts. They’re also selling those homes for 2% less. On a $250,000 home, that amounts to $5,000 either way.
When mortgages are taken into effect, single men earn about 6 percentage points more in annual returns from their home purchases. This gap is largest in areas with high levels of education, high incomes and elevated home prices.
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