The Real Estate of Marriage

The National Association of Realtors’ latest statistics show that the homebuyer market is clearly dominated by married couples. According to the data, 65 percent of buyers last year were married while just 16 percent took on homeownership alone — the biggest and smallest representations, respectively, in more than a decade. A couple of factors are at play in the current market, according to real estate expert Michael Corbett — including that many marriage partners have been riding out the housing slump and are now encouraged by historically low mortgage rates to jump into the market. Additionally, he says, “Mortgages these days are based very much on incomes and debt-to-income ratios. It’s a lot more challenging for a buyer with one income rather than buyers with two [sources of income] to qualify for a loan.” Singles, meanwhile, are being affected at least in part by the poor job market, as they settle for low-paying or part-time jobs and juggle student loans. One option is for two single people to purchase a home together. “This may not be possible depending on where you live,” cautions Sterling Investment Management Inc. President and CEO Jacquette Timmons. “But these days, people are getting creative.” | Read More