Mary Landgrebe, a land-use consultant, is a single, female homeowner in Fredericksburg. SKY GILBAR/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Percentage of female home buyers reaches record high of 22 percent

Date published: 11/26/2006

By KAFIA HOSH

The American dream of owning a home is a realization for more women today, but without the white picket fence and doting husband.

The number of single women buying homes is higher than ever before, according to a 2006 home buyers and sellers profile by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

From July 2005 to June 2006, unattached women made up 22 percent of all home buyers--a record high. During the same time period in 1995, 14 percent of home purchases were made by single women.

Cultural and societal progress have contributed to the growth of female investment.

In the 1970s "women had a hard time getting a credit card much less a mortgage," said NAR spokesman Walter Molony. "They were not being taken seriously by the lending community."

But higher education and workplace advancements among women have led more of them to enter the real-estate market.

"The biggest change in household composition over time has been in women buyers," Molony said.

The percentage of female homeowners reached double digits during the 1990s when the Federal Housing Administration allowed women to count child support as income.

"It made a real difference for single mothers," Molony said. "That accounted, presumably, for the increases we saw in the 1990s."

Financial education has also given women the confidence to purchase a home on their own.

Pegi Burdick, owner of Homes Loans for Women based in California, demystifies the mortgage process for her mostly female customers.

"It's really a mentoring program to teach people to understand the process while we're refining a mortgage program that works for them," she said.

Burdick noted that some unscrupulous lenders prey on women facing a crisis, such as refinancing or buying a new home after a painful divorce.

"Here comes someone on the phone and promises them the sun, the moon and the stars," she said. "There's a lot of gullibility, and it makes them a prime target for people who want to confuse them."

Still, single, professional women are looking at real estate as a dependable investment.

They're also doing their homework.

Penny Rowley of Fredericksburg waited for the real estate market to cool down before she bought her first townhouse in 2003.

Date published: 11/26/2006