Women doing it for themselves in the property market
WOMEN are increasingly deciding a man is not a financial plan, with a survey revealing that the number of females buying property by themselves is growing.
According to lender Rams Home Loans, data shows that almost half the sole home loan applications now came from women.
A shift had been seen in the past 18 months. Before then, about 70 per cent of home loan applications had been submitted by men, Rams said.
One woman entering the property market is Kate Beecroft, 24, who late last year purchased an older two-bedroom unit, which she has since renovated, in the south Sydney suburb of Cronulla for $330,000.
“I knew the longer I waited, the more prices would go up,” Ms Beecroft said. “I thought it would be a good opportunity to buy a unit as a starting point and use that to purchase a house further down the track.”
Ms Beecroft, who works for the Department of Families, Housing and Community Services, said she talked about buying a property with her boyfriend of two years, but he had not been ready to commit to a mortgage.
“It was something I wanted to do and that is why I decided to do it by myself,” she said.
Rams chief executive Melos Sulicich said those taking on the loans independently were not necessarily single, though some were newly single women involved in refinance deals.
Also, he said, the buying trend varied across states.
General manager of sales for McGrath Estate Agents Matt Lahood said inner city terraces and apartments with security parking, as well as beachside units, were popular with the female buyer.
“We have definitely seen in the last five years a segment in the marketplace of single career women,” he said.
Linda Fitzhardinge, who has run financial seminars for women called Prince Charming Isn’t Coming, said more women were now purchasing properties in their late 20s or early 30s whereas previously women had purchased after a divorce or when they thought it unlikely they would marry.
“There are a lot more women getting into investment property,” Ms Fitzhardinge said.
“They are now often making good money on their own and delaying that marriage thing, so getting into their own property is part of that cycle, and they feel very comfortable with property over shares.”
