If you look at the numbers, you would think that female homebuyers are taking over the North American residential real estate market. In particular, single female homebuyers are out purchasing their male counterparts by almost two to one in some cases.
Even if the fact that more single women are buying homes than single men, consider the following. Those female homebuyers are making more home purchases even while a significant gender wage gap exists in Canada.
In 2016, Canada ranked as having the 8th highest gender wage gap in a comparison of 43 countries done by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). On average, depending on their circumstances, women can face a wage gap of up to 46%, which means they earn 46% less than men doing the same work.
Single Female Buyers Now Second Only to Married Couples
While there isn’t as much data available that’s specific to the Canadian market, there are similarities in the U.S. and Canadian real estate markets.
- In the U.S. – A Lending Tree report in the U.S. included data that shows, on average, single women own around 22% of all homes, compared to about 13% of all homes being owned by single men.
- In Canada – A study of Canadian home sales data by Bond Brand Loyalty revealed that women accounted for 49% of all homes sales in Canada. The study did not breakdown the data further to include single women and men.
- In the Future – In more than one report here and in the U.S., that the shifting homebuyer demographic is likely to be a long-term trend. The numbers of women graduating university with at least a bachelor’s degree have been on the rise for some time.
First, since the 1990s, the proportion of Canadian women graduating with a university degree has been higher than the proportion of men doing the same. Second, 41% of women between the ages of 25 and 34 (a similar age group as the first-time homebuyer demographic) held a bachelor’s degree in 2016, versus less than 33% just 10 years earlier.
What does it all mean if you have a condo or house for sale in Markham? You should be prepared for potential buyers of both sexes and, in some cases, actually cater to single female buyers.
If you enjoyed this post, check out our recent article about how to increase the value of your home.