Did You Know That?

• More than one in five home-buyers today is a single woman.
• Twice as many unmarried women as unmarried men are buying homes.
• Women directly purchase or have a controlling influence in the purchase of 91% of all new homes.
• Women represent nearly half of all investors with $100,000 or more in investment assets.
• The number of single-person households has skyrocketed, reaching 26.5 million in 2000. 
• The share of married couple households today has fallen to about half. 
• Married couples still define the traditional family and typical homebuyer.

                                                     (State of the Nations Housing, Harvard, 2005)

The Single Female Homeowner

The Single Male                                          Did You Know That?

Homeowner                                               

                      • Only 9% of single men are home buyers.
                     • Half as many unmarried men as unmarried women buy houses.
                     • More than half of unmarried male buyers have never been married
                       (compared to one third of female buyers.)
                     • 55% of single male home buyers live alone.
                     • The average age of a single male home buyer is 37.

                                                                                       (Coleman, 2006)

Housing the Soul: The Psychology of Housing and Human Environments

Based on my doctoral research, this book explores the social, psychological, and symbolic meaning of home to single male and female homeowners.  Emphasis is placed on the construction of gender roles, marriage, and the meaning of home.

“I feel like it’s my husband.  I mean I have to take care of it.  I have to pay for it.  I’m committed to it for a long time.  I can’t get away from it easily.  Yep…it’s my husband.”  (Female Participant)

"Well my favorite thing is I was successful in making it a home.  Both of my kids are comfortable coming here and bringing their friends." (Male Participant)

“My house was like my therapy.  She (mother) lived for a year, but it was a really hard year, you know she just got weaker and weaker every month.  So this was my therapy. (I asked myself) Do I pay a therapist to talk to, or do I work on my house?  And so I threw myself into my house.  This sort of helped me.  You know, just doing all my projects.  My painting and wall papering – it helped me get through a very rough time in my life” (Female Participant)

"I know the house intimately." (Male Participant)

"I was ready to settle down and I thought okay – I’m not going to put my life on hold until I get married – and that’s what I’ve done. but I definitely think in owning a house you’re in a different club of people." (Female Participant)

"I have a lot of friends and a lot of company.  I open it up to a lot of people." (Male Participant) 

"It was bittersweet because wow, I did this.   It was me, all me on my own.  But at the same time it was a reminder that there was no one there to help me with this...  no one there to give me a hug and say you know, you did a good job." (Female Participant)

"If women would just come and see my house before agreeing to go out on a date with me, I think my chances of landing a steady relationship would be much higher because my home is um… it’s figuratively really representative of me." (Male Participant)