Single women fuel SW Florida homeowner growth in 'unaffordable' market

Who's helping keep the clunky Southwest Florida housing market afloat?

Single women, that's who ― based on new data from the U.S. Census and the National Association of Realtors known as NAR.

And that's perhaps a little timely as we begin May's International Victorious Woman Month, which honors resilience and achievements.

Resilience is key, as many females haven't allowed their lower pay as compared to males to slow their achievements to own a piece of the American Dream.

Here's what to know.

Naples stands out on high home ownership rate of single women

While "single women are becoming a bigger force in the housing market" and now narrowly more likely to own than single men, the stats for Southwest Florida are particularly notable, said Nadia Evangelou, NAR's director of research who put together the springtime study.

"In 57% of metro areas, single women have a higher homeownership rate than single men, and in some markets, the gap is not small," Evangelou said. "Vallejo, California; McAllen, Texas; Asheville, North Carolina; Davenport, Iowa; and Palm Bay and Naples in Florida stand out for having some of the widest differences. In these metros, single women are significantly more likely to own homes than their male counterparts."

Major increase in Lee County homeownership for single women

While in these areas single women are already well ahead, in others, they are catching up quickly.

"At the same time, some markets have experienced the fastest gains in homeownership among single women," Evangelou said. "Many of the biggest increases over the past decade are concentrated in Florida, especially in Palm Bay and Cape Coral."

America has more than 20 million single women homeowners

Nationally, about 51% of single women own their own home as compared to just under 50% for men.

"It’s not a huge difference, but it adds up," Evangelou said. "Across much of the country, they are becoming a larger and more stable part of the homeowner base. (There) are more than 20 million single women homeowners, far more than about 14 million single men."

Single men dominate Sarasota, Polk but not Lee County, Naples

The percentage gap is much wider in Southwest Florida. In Lee County, women lead men 69% to 63%. It was 57% for women in 2014. Collier shows a similar margin of 70-63%, and a decade ago Naples area women had just a 60-59% edge.

But not far, men remain ahead in the Sarasota-Bradenton market, the Sebring region and Polk and Port St. Lucie counties, according to NAR. Still, women do lead in spots like the South Florida metro, Tampa Bay, the Orlando area and the Charlotte, Indian River and Volusia county areas.

Why are single women entering housing market by the millions?

"Seeing single women increase in numbers in the housing market in an incredibly unaffordable housing market speaks to the stability of homeownership and how much she thinks that this is the right idea for her future," said NAR Deputy Chief Economist Jessica Lautz. "It gives her the financial stability and not to be at the whim of the landlord and have to be at risk of moving, and that's why she's doing it.

"They truly are this tremendous force. If we look across all generations of homebuyers, what we see is that single women are always outpacing single men, and they're always second only to married couples in the housing market."

In 1974, women could still be rejected for mortgage solely on sex

This is happening even though until the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act, they could be legally denied a mortgage based solely on their sex, according to Realtor.com. It's become a cultural transformation, said Sheryl Palmer, CEO of Taylor Morrison, the fifth-largest homebuilder that has eight communities rising in Southwest Florida.

"If we go back 10, 15, even 20 years, the female was known as the veto in the purchase decision. Today, they're actually a decision maker," Palmer said, noting that women now account for 40% to 45% of all Taylor Morrison's mortgage leads.

Women lead on housing despite major wage gap with men

Women are taking this on even though they have always been far behind men on pay.

"The median income for single women homeowners is about $58,000, compared with $69,000 for single men," Evangelou said. "In other words, single women earn about 84 cents for every dollar single men earn. But despite that, single women are still more likely to own."

'Single women are more financially stretched' on housing

And it's not easy.

"Data shows that single women are more financially stretched," Evangelou said. "On average, single women homeowners spend about 30% of their income on housing, compared with 26% for men."

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Single women account for 25% of first-time homeowners

Still, separate research by Realtor.com found that single women now represent 21% of U.S. homebuyers. And NAR says their market share has nearly doubled since 1981, rising from 11% of buyers. They accounted for 25% of first-timers, outpacing single men at 10%, and Realtor.com noted in a report the "resilience and dominance of this segment of buyers" illustrates how the desire for equity and stability can outweigh significant affordability hurdles. There's that persistence.

"They prioritize homeownership financially, cutting non-essential spending," said Stephanie Pinder, an associate broker for Compass and blogger on southern Florida real estate, noting more need to get into the market sooner. "My first house was at 26. Homeownership is one of the strongest indicators of household wealth — so much so that even without counting home equity, homeowners still have about 30 times the net worth of renters. The quicker you get this, the quicker you build generational wealth."

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Women own homes longer, translating into more housing equity

Once they figure out a way into the market though, women tend to own their homes longer, and that pays off.

"That longer tenure translates into more housing equity," Evangelou said. "For an average home valued at around $300,000, after 18 years, homeowners have typically paid off close to 45% of their mortgage, turning time into equity. Over that same period, home prices have almost doubled, adding more than $140,000 in value. Combined with years of paying down the mortgage, many single women homeowners have built over $200,000 in total housing equity."

Single men & women homeowners in Naples-Marco Island metro

Single men & women homeowners, Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro

Year	Single Women	Single Men
2014	56.7%	49.4%
2024	68.6%	63.3%
Change 2014–2024	+11.9 pts	+13.9 pts

Source: National Association of Realtors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data

Writing In the Know for the USA TODAY Network, Columnist Phil Fernandez ([email protected]) grew up in Southwest Florida and has led Pulitzer Prize-winning efforts. Sign up for our free Breaking Ground growth and development newsletter. Subscribe to our News-Press and Naples Daily News apps.