As home prices and mortgage rates continue to rise across the country, a new report from data aggregator PropertyShark shows the gender gap is widening for single homebuyers in the U.S., with the number of unaffordable cities for singles of both genders growing and those for single women in particular increasing to 12 more than men. 

The study explored the housing gender gap in 51 of the largest U.S. cities, focusing sharply on gender disparities in the homebuying market.

Key findings:

• Single women would have to spend 49% of the median national income to cover monthly mortgage payments for a starter home, compared to 32% of income for single men.
• Women can afford to make solo purchases in 17 of the country’s 51 most populous cities, while men can afford it in 29 locations.
• Detroit, Michigan, Tulsa and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma are the three most affordable urban centers for single buyers.
• The gender housing gap decreased in Washington, D.C. and widened in Boston, Massachusetts, San Jose and Long Beach, California and New Orleans, Louisiana.
• Housing cost and income imbalance remains extreme in top markets like New York City, New York, San Francisco, California and Miami, Florida, despite a slight downtick.
• Single women cannot afford to buy in 34 cities today—10 more than just five years ago.
• Share of monthly housing costs doubled for single female buyers in Colorado Springs, Colorado and Las Vegas, Nevada.

The takeaway:

According to Eliza Theiss, author of the report, “The disparity between wage growth and the verticality of the housing market has also pushed a number of formerly affordable locations into unaffordable territory for singles.
“Home prices continued to far outpace wage growth in many top urban centers,” Theiss notes. “For instance, in Boston, single women would now have to spend a whopping 98% of their monthly income to cover housing expenses—up from 91% five years ago.

“Overall, as inventory has proceeded to tighten and home prices continued to rise over the past five years,” Thesis concluded, “single buyers are now increasingly less likely to be able to afford to buy a home independently, with eight more cities pricing them out. And, although single men can’t afford 22 of the country’s 51 largest urban centers, the gender pay gap is increasingly burdening women, who are now priced out of 34 cities.”

To read the full report, click here. 

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