Single Black Women Rewriting Rules of Ownership

WASHINGTON — Kayla Kimber had a clear goal: Own a home by the time she was 35 years old – partner or no partner.

Two years ago, it was looking tough. In 2023, she was 32, still single and living in her studio apartment with rising rent. She had a car payment to manage, and her savings weren't where they needed to be. Undaunted, Kimber focused on boosting her income with a full-time and part-time job and earnestly tackled her debt. One year later, she bought her dream house, one that checked every box.

"I feel very proud to have a home," says the program manager at Road to Hire, a nonprofit that supports young adults from underrepresented communities (and, like Bankrate, a subsidiary of Red Ventures). "This was a milestone that I always thought I would have to have a partner for. It was a significant achievement for me to have done it on my own. If I can do this on my own, then I'm unstoppable."

Despite high home prices, stubborn mortgage rates and a racial wealth and homeownership gap that remains painfully wide, Black women are proving they are indeed unstoppable. They are not just buying homes, they're rewriting the rules of homeownership. According to data from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR), Black women make up the largest share of single female homebuyers, more than in any other racial or ethnic group. This isn't a sudden spike; it's been growing every year since 2020.

Black women breaking ground

It's easy to forget – or maybe hard to believe – that not too long ago, if you were a woman (of any race), you often couldn't get a mortgage, open a bank account or take out other loans without a male co-signer. It wasn't until the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974 that it became illegal to deny credit to someone because of their sex or marital status.

Black women have certainly come a very long way since then. In recent decades, Black women have steadily increased their rate of homeownership, even as rates for Black men have declined, according to the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB). That momentum continued through, and after, the COVID pandemic slowed growth.

"In terms of mortgage applications, there are more that come from Black females than any other part of our population, more than Black males and more than Black couples," says Courtney Rose Johnson, the outgoing president of NAREB.

And today, single Black women are among the fastest-growing groups of all homebuyers, notching a 33% share in 2024, up from 29% the previous year, NAR's data shows.

"Single Black women are outpacing all women in the housing market," says Jessica Lautz, deputy chief economist and vice president of research at NAR. "Regardless of race, single Black women are achieving homeownership at even higher rates than what we see for white, Hispanic and Asian women."

Admittedly, not all single female homeowners are necessarily homebuyers: Some may have inherited property from a spouse or parents, or received it in a divorce settlement. NAR's data does not distinguish whether single women homeowners have never married or are separated, divorced or widowed. Still, the overall trend of female homeownership is on the rise. In fact, single-female-headed households, which include widowed, separated, or divorced women, had a homeownership rate of more than 53% in 2021, according to financial services firm First American Financial Corporation. That's up from a low of 50% in 2016.

What's behind the rise of single Black female homeownership?

A number of key factors are driving the growth in single Black women homeownership, a shift that's driven by a combination of social, economic and personal factors.

Shouldering responsibility

Historically, Black women have often taken on the role of the family matriarch, balancing caregiving responsibilities while also striving for financial security.

"She's not always a single mom, but she is more likely to be a single mom than we see for single men [being dads]," says Lautz. "She is more likely to have an elderly parent within that multi-generational household. Perhaps homeownership allows her that financial stability and the ability to earn housing equity at the same time."

And she's not waiting for a partner to do it with. Nearly half of Black women aged 15 and older have never been married. From 1970 to 2020, the percentage of unmarried Black women was more than double that of both the overall population and Black men, according to the Census Bureau. This means more women are making major financial decisions, like buying a home, on their own.

"Our data shows that the average Black woman's median age when they purchase real estate is age 44, and they enter the job market at 24," says Johnson. "What's happening for 20 years that's keeping them from buying a house? They're waiting for things to steady out." For many women, that steadying means focusing on building their education, career, and financial stability first, so they can enter a marriage on solid ground.

Working more, at school and on the job

"It's extraordinary that [Black] women are doing this because they're doing so on the lowest household income of anyone who's in the homebuying market," says Lautz. "They don't have a dual income, and they're earning less traditionally than single men."

But they're working on it. While the long-standing wage gap is real, Black women continue to outpace their Black male counterparts in education, earning bachelor's, master's and other degrees at higher rates, according to the American Association of University Women. As Black women become more educated, that often translates into better-paying jobs and extra disposable income.

And if it doesn't, they're ready to make up the difference with sweat equity. Kimber, who holds a master's degree, juggled both part-time and full-time jobs to build up her savings before buying her home, a habit she continues today (though what was once a seven-day workweek has now eased to six.)

"If you are in a position where it's just you, it's okay to have to go out and pick up a side hustle so you can be comfortable and have breathing room," says Kimber. "Because when you get in your house, you want to be able to have a house that you enjoy. You want to be able to make it your own, and you don't want to exhaust your salary trying to do so."

Capitalizing on financial assistance

Financial aid can be a true game-changer when purchasing a home, especially for Black women.

Take Kimber – not only did her parents help by buying her out of her lease, but the home seller also covered her closing costs. Then there's Fantasha Lawrence, assistant marketing manager on Red Ventures' All Connect Team, which helps customers compare various home services like internet and utilities. After three years of watching her rent climb higher, she took the leap and purchased a home in 2023 – at the age of 25.

Even with tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt, Lawrence made homeownership happen with the help of two first-time homebuyer grants from Bank of America that her loan officer helped her secure. One covered her down payment, while the other took care of her closing costs. Both "saved me a lot of money that I would have had to pay before even getting a home," she recalls. "I'm very grateful I didn't have to dip into any savings."

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