[CITY] Real Estate News

Nationally, 25% of buyers are single, according to the latest Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers from the National Association of REALTORS, with nearly twice as many single women as men (16% vs 9%) purchasing homes. Though the share of homes bought by singles has been stifled in recent years, first by the recession and then by tight lending conditions, many practitioners are finding success serving single clients, regardless of their own marital status. The bond between those real estate pros and their single clients can be especially strong. "Buying and selling real estate and moving is already a highly emotional process. If you're doing it alone, it can be scary and stressful," says Tiffany Stevens, GRI sales agent with Phyllis Browning Co in San Antonio. "I keep that in mind when working with my single clientele so that they never feel like they are completely alone in the process," she says.

Unmarried people may, in fact, have more frequent real estate needs than couples and families because they tend to be more mobile. Between 2012 and 2013, 12 million never-married and 3 million divorced people moved homes compared with 9.9 million marrieds, according to Census Bureau data. Christopher Mills, sales agent of Keller Williams Capital Properties in Washington, D.C., says many singles who buy homes in the Districts hot H Street Corridor change jobs or need to move within 5 years. For them, the issue is finding a home that can transition to a rental property easily.

The rising purchasing power of single women suggests they'll be an important demographic for decades to come. Currently, 6 out of 10 college graduates (whose incomes are typically far higher than those of high school grads) are female, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Income parity is also improving. Among workers ages 25 - 35, women's hourly wages in 2012 were 93% those of men, compared to 84% for women of all ages, according to a Pew Research Center study.

Excerpted from article by Lynn Olsen, Realtor Magazine - Sept, Oct 2014.