Gender plays role during Raleigh's real estate boom, data shows
Over the last 30 years, homeownership among women has increased but they're still underrepresented in the real estate market.
Posted — Updated"It was stressful," Corwin said.
She and her partner were renting the home when they began their housing search. After opportunities fell through, they talked to their landlord and bought the house from them.
Even though Corwin lives with a partner, she took out a loan for the house by herself.
"It just made sense, with our income, for me to be the one financially responsible," she said.
The Buffalo transplant relocated to Raleigh permanently during the coronavirus pandemic. She had been working as a nurse in New York City in 2020 but chose to leave the city and her career in the ICU behind and open a boutique fitness studio in Raleigh.
"I obviously love the weather, and it feels like a booming city because of the growth but it's not so huge that you can't drive around [or] you can't get places," said Corwin. "I still can have a yard and have a dog."
Over the last 30 years, homeownership among women has increased, now up to 61.2 percent.
Still, single women remain underrepresented in the real estate market.
Meanwhile, men, on their own, 34 percent, and joint applicants maintain the majority with 39.9 percent of the market nationwide. Less than 8 percent of applicants didn't disclose identifying information like gender.
Outside of Raleigh, other areas in North Carolina are among some of the highest nationwide for women buyers. Lumberton, Rocky Mount and Fayetteville land in the top 5 for small and medium sized metro areas where women make up 30, 28.8 and 27.3 percent of the share, respectively.
"I think the low interest rates is why you have a lot of single income buyers being very interested," said Rebecca Meschio, a realtor with Hunter Rowe. "That's a more appetizing loan than something with a more ballooned rate."
Meschio said Raleigh’s competitive sellers market is challenging for all buyers.
While gender shouldn’t be taken into account, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data on the financing available to homebuyers shows women have different buying experiences than their male and joint applicant counterparts.
On average in Raleigh, female loan applicants receive a median home loan of $235,000, which is $30,000 less that a typical loan for male applicants and $70,000 less than joint applicants.
The average loan-to-value ratio for women is higher too suggesting they’re putting down less money when buying a home compared to their male or joint counterparts.
"It's not all hope is lost for a single income buyer," said Meschio. "It's just you need to be creative and patient and really work with experts."
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