Single Females - A Growing Factor Among Sarasota Home Buying Prospects

Posted July 30, 2011

    The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported that single women are quickly becoming a significant percentage of the total number of home buyers in the U.S. real estate market. Last year 20% of all home buyers were single women. The steady increase in the number of women in the workplace, particularly in top management positions which command higher earnings, has helped to shift the balance of home buyers toward a higher participation among homebuyers by single females according to The Business Report.

    According to the NAR, single women aren’t just purchasing more homes than ever before. They are also displaying more knowledge and understanding of the whole home buying process. They ask piercing questions and demand straight answers and, they are more aggressive in negotiating price, demanding features and warranties, and exploring financing options in more depth.

    Further, it is not just young single professional women who are buying homes. The range of single female buyers also includes widows and female retirees seeking a lower-maintenance lifestyle and the warmer climate offered here in the Sarasota and Bradenton Florida area.

    Due to the increasing number of single women buying homes, Sarasota home and condominium builders are "stepping up their game" in their product offerings and advertising to appeal to this growing segment of huyers. Builders here and across the U.S. are increasingly offering homes with extensive security systems, low- or no-maintenance yards, gourmet kitchens, more spacious bathrooms, and softer color schemes in their model homes. - all features more appealing to female than to male buyers.

    Research has shown thatg female home buyers have a different priorities from men. “When a woman is shopping for a home with a husband, she may tend to defer to the man's desire for things like a big garage, space for a workshop, or a work-at-home office,” says Brian Ward, an established Sarasota Florida real estate agent. Married women tend to be more interested in the suitability and attractiveness of the kitchen and baths. But, he adds, "when a woman is buying a home specifically for herself, she tends to be at least as interested in other factors like whether or not she will need to make major changes to the home to make it fit her personal lifestyle, interests and needs." Just the need to re-paint the entire interior of a home to make it more neutral can be enough to exclude a home from consideration by a single female. Conversely, a man may be more likely to see that as something that can be deferred or just ignored.

    As the Sarasota real estate market continues recovering from the worst housing market in decades, Sarasota real estate professionals would be well-advised to pay attention to trends like this one and more finely focus their skills, marketing plans and actions to focus on the interests of single-females and other unique home buyer groups.

    Forward-thinking Sarasota - Bradenton Realtors like Brian Ward have earned the prestigious Accredited Buyer Representative (ABR) designation enabling them to be more responsive to the needs and desires of today's more sophisticated single buyers like single females.

    If you'd care to comment on this article or any other facet of Sarasota Real Estate News, please visit my Sarasota Real Estate Blog.

    For a permanent home, vacation getaway or an investment property, the Sarasota real estate market, with its recent price correction, is hard to beat.  I invite you to request my free Sarasota Real Estate Package. For a more immediate response, call me directly at 941-228-2321.