Kate Wood, a credit expert at Nerd Wallet, and Kristina Modares, a co-purchasing strategist at Joynt, reveal why young women are bypassing marriage for non-romantic homeownership.
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Wood said people are buying houses with friends and family members: “What we’re seeing increase now is joint buying between friends. Or people who are family members but are actually buying a house with someone you have a non-romantic relationship with.”
According to the National Association of Real Estate AgentsProfile 2025: 25% single women and 10% single men buying a home for the first time, while the share of married couples remained stable at 50%, based on data collected between July 2024 and June 2025. In comparison, of all home buyers, 61% are married, 21% are single women and 9% are single men.
NAR also shared that the average age of first home purchase has increased from 38 years in 2024 to 40 years. Furthermore, purchases by first-time buyers will account for 21% of all buyers by 2025.
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Kristina Modares, co-purchasing strategist at Joynt, shared her experiences with co-purchasing with friends, family and a romantic partner.
Wood said that by 2024, one in four home purchases would be made by single women.
“It’s really intriguing that single women make up this larger share because it’s significantly higher than single men,” Wood said.
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Wood said this signals a shift from “old fashioned” ways to a modern way to own a home.
“Now we’re seeing people do things in the order that makes the most sense to them, given where they are financially in their lives, but also emotionally, just how they’re feeling, what their readiness is for these different milestones at different times,” she said.
Modares warned that the decision to buy together should not be taken lightly. He said you have to be willing to examine yourself and be a good partner.
Modares added that this trend could lead to homeownership being viewed as an investment.
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Red and white ‘For Sale’ sign in front of a red brick house for sale. (iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)
“The American dream is being reimagined in many ways. So it offers more options and ways to dream,” Modares said. “Co-buying is evolving a bit to meet Americans where they are now.”
Modares said she is excited about the new way people are choosing to own a home.
“I think the world is changing in a lot of different ways, which is pushing us to live more in community, which I’m honestly really excited about,” she said.
The median US monthly housing payment fell to near a two-year low, but could have fallen even further if sales prices weren’t still rising, according to a recent report from Redfin.
The monthly home payment fell to $2,413 for the four weeks ending Jan. 11. However, the national average sales price still increased, up 1% year-on-year. That’s significantly lower than the increase from 4% to 5% in early 2025, according to the brokerage’s Thursday report.
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The subways where the largest declines occurred mainly in the south and on the west coast. For example, the biggest declines occurred in Dallas and San Jose, California, where average home sales prices fell 4.4% and 3.7% year-over-year, respectively.
In all, about 15 metro areas saw their average home sales price drop in the four weeks ending Jan. 11.
The cities with the largest increases were Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago and Warren, Michigan.
Fox Business’ Daniella Genovese contributed to this report
