Dual income households are now making up a much larger portion of the housing market in the United States and are helping with the overall real estate recovery, the National Association of Realtors’ annual study shows.
The study demonstrates that 65% of all those who buy and move into new homes are married couples, with 16% being single women, 9% being single men, 8% being unmarried couples and 2% other. The percentages of single buyers were a little higher last year.
Just two years ago, however, 58% of all those who bought and made their relocation into new homes were married couples, with 20% being single women, 12% being single men and 7% being unmarried couples, with the overall share market in relation to single buyers declining over the three last years by 7%. Prior to 2010 the market shares only moved within an extremely narrow range of usually no more than one or two percentage points at the most.
“We’ve known for some time that stringent mortgage credit standards have been holding back home sales, but these findings show single buyers have been hurt the most over the past two years,” says the NAR vice president of research, Paul Bishop. ”Total home sales would be 10% to 15% higher without these unnecessary headwinds. The continued growth in married couples as single buyers shrink demonstrates that households with dual incomes are more successful in obtaining a mortgage.”
Jon Huser
