Single females amassing Victoria property

Single women make up the second-largest number of home buyers in the United States, according to the latest real estate statistics.
And the figures seem to be similar in B.C., said Carol Geurts, managing broker at Royal LePage Coast Capital Realty on the West Shore.
"There's a lot more females coming into the market," said the former Victoria Real Estate Board president who is "not surprised" at U.S. National Association of Realtors latest figures showing that single women account for at least 21 per cent of all real estate transactions south of the border.
Single women buying homes havae become so common that she no longer notices the gender of home buyers.
"It's not something I consciously think about - not something I give a lot of thought to," said Geurts.
Women are now buying homes at a faster rate than the general population, said Diana McMeekin, president of Artemis Marketing Group Inc.
"The majority of people actually making the decision to purchase a new home has continued to be women - 80 per cent of all home purchasing decisions made by women," she said.
The reason is simple, said McMeekin.
"The income of the average working woman in North America is climbing and she now earns 85 per cent of the income of her male counterpart - significantly up from five years ago."
McMeekin's research has found that by 2010 there will 31 million female owned households in the United States.
Her research also found:
In 2000 twice as many single women vs. single men bought homes
In 1999 for the first time ever more single women owned homes than rented them.
In the past 10 years there has been a 52 per cent increase in single female buyers.
Recent American figures show women now account for 47 per cent of condominium owners and are second only to married couples who bought 59 per cent of homes.
By contrast, single males were 11 per cent of buyers in the U.S., while unmarried couples accounted for only eight per cent.
Gender sales statistics are not kept by national, provincial, or local real estate organizations in Canada.
Gary McInnis, current Victoria board president, agrees there "are lots of single women in the market" but wouldn't guess at the actual percentage of home sales females account for.
Women also account for a growing percentage of real estate sales people.
Glenn Terrell, board executive officer, said the ratio of female realtors has jumped in this region from about 10 per cent several years ago to just under 40 per cent now - 411 female realtors and 723 males.
Builders, developers, and realtors are finally starting to "get it," according to real estate writer Tom Kelly.
"They now are well aware that women make a majority of the decisions in the home-buying process and that they no longer are merely housewives of a nuclear family." he wrote.
"Today, women are independent, empowered, educated and employed - and often single," he said.

By Rudy Haugeneder
Victoria News
Dec 09 2005