Single Gen Z women outpace Gen Z men to homeownership despite overall decline in first-time buyers

By ALEX VEIGA

Updated 11:09 AM EDT, May 20, 2026

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Single Gen Z women are outpacing their male counterparts when it comes to buying a home.

They accounted for 35% of all homebuyers in their generation, while single Gen Z men represented 18%, according to survey data from the National Association of Realtors.

NAR surveyed people who bought a home between July 2024 and June 2025. The survey included homebuyers from several generations, from Gen Z, ages 18-26, to the Silent Generation, ages 80 to 100. No other generation had a bigger share of single women homebuyers than Gen Z.

Overall Gen Zers, which the survey defines as those born between 1999 and 2011, still only made up 4% of all homebuyers during the survey period. And at the time of the survey, the share of U.S. homes bought by first-time buyers of all ages sank to the lowest level on record going back to 1981.

First-time buyers often don’t have equity from a previous home to put toward a down payment. That was the situation for Bri LaFluer. After years of socking away half her pay, working two jobs and aided by a slowing housing market, she bought her own home in 2023 at the age of 24.

“I’ve always been a really independent person and I just wanted my own place to have peace and quiet by myself,” said LaFluer, now 27.

Her home search began in 2021, but historically low mortgage rates made the market ultra competitive, which turbocharged prices. Two years later she finally landed a house in Baldwinsville, N.Y., about 15 miles from Syracuse, that was built in 1900 and has three bedrooms and 1.5-baths and a big yard. She got it for $175,000.

“I feel like it was meant to be and this just ended up being the perfect house for me and my dogs,” she said.

A content creator for a video game company, LaFluer lived with her mom and paid a modest rent, which helped her save up faster for the $20,000 down payment.

The NAR survey data are the latest sign that single women overall are becoming homeowners at greater rates than single men. Gen Z homebuyers are much more likely than homebuyers in all other generations to be unmarried. But single women across the generations made up a quarter of all homebuyers in the July 2024-June 2025 period, according to NAR. Single men, meanwhile, accounted for 11% of all home purchases.

This has been a longstanding trend going back at least to 1981. In 2006, at the height of the mid-2000s housing boom, the share of homes bought by single women peaked at 22%, according to NAR. For single men, their share of homeownership peaked at 12% in 2010.

Experts say there is no one-size-fits-all answer to why across the generations single women outnumber single men as homeowners.

Women now are outpacing men in college attendance, which can lead to higher incomes, said Jessica Lautz, NAR’s deputy chief economist.

They tend to have a strong desire for homeownership as a way to secure their independence, something they historically could not easily do alone.

First time home owners get a lot of great deals to help them out.

Much lower down payments can be achieved just by having the right person walk you thru everything.

My daughter bought her first house a little over two years ago. Just bought her second one this month. She put in the effort to figure out what was needed, as did I.

My son got his first house a little less than a year ago. He used the first time buyer deals and his very high FICO to help him out.

Sure, he had to do an online training session, but it saved him so much that it was well worth the time spent.

This reminds me of people squawking about how much college costs. My daughter actually made money her first year of college. We told her that it was her job to get all the deals she could. She did and it cost us nothing for her to go that first year. She still saved money the other years as well. I bought her a car and still saved money over what I would have spent that first year.

Some more reasons the girls buy more could be that the men are not certain where they will be working as much as the girls. Girls seem to me to more often stay near family where men are more likely to relocate to another city for jobs than the girls. If you know you want to stay in a certain area/town there is a higher likelihood you will buy in that town sooner.

Thanks RayRay!

Richard has a good point. 30% of MEN under 30 still live at home.

Another stat: Average age of first time homebuyers is 40.

I hope to include GenZ data and their values in my presentation at Convention, on how it relates to our pool of rental prospects and how we can better market for the good applicants.

They spend money differently than other generations so how do WE fit into their choices.

BRAD

Oh, she spends! Lots! She is just very good at making bonuses, raises, promotions.

I think lots of guys don’t want responsibility of a house until they have a wife to take care of it. But, I am kinda peeved at my hubby right now, so I am biased today, lol! OTOH, maybe not. You all have probably heard the old saying, ‘Behind every successful man, there is a good woman,’ or something to that effect. Used to be, first time home buyers would be a young married couple. And the husband would probably take all the credit for making that happen. (Remember the Dick and Jane primers where Dick did everything, and Jane applauded?) Well, maybe women should have been getting more credit for instigating a home purchase, or, joining military to go far from home ( ahem-yes, I was the one who pushed for him to join me in going into military. Sure, he stayed in longer, but I got out to start a family. I didn’t want us both getting sent to war. And, in fact, my old unit may have been the one to take the only casualties in the 100 day war. My youngest was about two months old at the time. )

My daughter now lives .20 miles from us (as in less than a quarter mile). Son lives 35 minutes away via the interstate.

Daughter put the new house in her name because her better half has horrible credit. Saved her a couple interest points.

When I bought my current place it was for a flip or maybe a hold. Wife came over after work and I started saying how we could do this and that and then live here. I was joking, she took me up on the offer.

I had to complete everything inside before we moved because I have a tendency to not complete projects for my own place.