Some places in the U.S. offer better odds of singles breaking out of renting and into homeownership. Nearly 83 percent of renters say they have a desire to buy a home, according to polls by the National Association of REALTORS®. But the reality is that many can’t afford to with rising home prices and mortgage rates. For singles, the move to homeownership can especially be tough.
SmartAsset, a personal finance website, analyzed cities to find where singles are most likely to own their homes. Researchers found that seniors are making up the largest portion of the single homeownership market. Cities with large senior populations or cities where retirees are moving ranked highest in the study. Also, places with lower median home values tended to have higher homeownership rates for singles, according to the study. The median home value for the top 50 ranked cities in the study was $217,000, while the median home value for the bottom 50 ranked was $302,700.
Source: “Where Singles Have the Highest Homeownership Rate,” SmartAsset (April 18, 2018)