Why women are winning real estate

Sixty years ago, women couldn't get a credit card or mortgage without a male cosigner.

• Now, the nation's share of single women homeowners eclipses that of single men, and overall homeownership is majority female, Axios' Brianna Crane writes .

Why it matters: The gender pay gap and inequitable caregiving responsibilities have historically served as barriers for women.

• But the rise in homeownership accompanies a strong shift toward women-led households, both single and married, Urban Institute researcher Jung Hyun Choi tells Axios.
• In 1990, less than a third of total households reported being headed by female breadwinners. In 2021, the majority of households (51%) did.

Zoom in: Census data show 13.7% of homes in Ohio are owned by single women, compared to 11.3% by single men, per LendingTree .

• In Columbus' hot housing market , single women owners eclipse single men by an even larger 6.5%, according to a census analysis from Porch .

The big picture: Solo women mortgage applicants made up 18% of the U.S. market in 2023, a share that's slowly grown since mortgage platform Maxwell started tracking applicants' gender and marital status in 2021.

• One in 3 women with partners bought alone because they were in a stronger financial position to do so, Maxwell's annual Single Women Home Buyer Report found.

The other side: Opportunity isn't equal. Single Latina and Black women have the lowest ownership rates of any group in the U.S., Axios' Astrid Galván reports .

• Single women with children also face low ownership rates compared to other groups, including single men with children, Choi's research shows.

Plus: In most age groups, women outnumber men. "This is more a reflection of strength in numbers than economic vitality," Pew researcher Richard Fry tells Axios.

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