Single Women Propping Up the Condo Market?
For some reason, according to The Times, single women can’t get enough of the Brooklyn condo market. It’s the women’s checks, David Walentas said of the unprecedented number of ladies dropping deposits at 110 Livingston Street. It’s not like a dual account — Joe and Suzy. It’s Suzy. I’m amazed. One broker says that it’s…
For some reason, according to The Times, single women can’t get enough of the Brooklyn condo market. It’s the women’s checks, David Walentas said of the unprecedented number of ladies dropping deposits at 110 Livingston Street. It’s not like a dual account — Joe and Suzy. It’s Suzy. I’m amazed. One broker says that it’s the women’s ability to take the long-term view versus men’s competitive need to get the best price in the here and now. Other brokers say it’s the powerful word-of-mouth effect among women that’s resulting in pockets of them buying in the same new developments. One person we had dinner with on Saturday night had a less politically correct theory: That single women at the end of their child-bearing years may be coming to terms with the fact that they will only need a one or two-bedroom home for the long haul, whereas men of the same age may be holding out on the belief that they may need a larger family home at some point in the future. Another option is that there may be no trend at all, just a few anecdotal outliers. It would be interesting to hear from some brokers on this one.
Women Unafraid of Condo Commitment [NY Times]
Photo by Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times
What’s missing from this thread is some consideration of your typical 25-year-old male versus your typical 25-year-old female. The male lives in squalor with a roommate, hangs out in bars after work every night, is basically an overgrown frat boy and has not been socialized by our culture to be a real adult until such time as he marries and has kids. The female, on the other hand, got better grades in school and college than the male, is mature, organized, goal-driven, and has more independence and money than her mother’s generation ever had and is determined to be smart about it. I mean really — hasn’t anyone noticed that men in this culture don’t grow up until women acculturate them? So of course educated women with a little money are less afraid than men of buying real estate and creating a home for themselves. Guys don’t create homes for themselves at all — they wait for their live-in girlfriends or wives to do it. OK, this is a gross, sexist generalization … but no more so than anything else that has been written here today.
more men are still buying the women.
THE FOLLOWING COMMENT (from sean at December 11, 2006 10:59 AM) WAS THE MOST MEANINGFUL (though extreme because it’s not pure emotion, just emotional influence) ONE I HAVE READ FOR THIS THREAD. WE ALL KNOW THAT WOMEN TEND TO DECIDE MORE EMOTIONALLY THAN MEN AND SHOULD TAKE HEED, as 4:41 and 4:48 apparently have, TO HOW REAL ESTATE CYCLES HAVE BEHAVED HISTORICALLY SINCE WWII. THE ONLY PEOPLE BUYING NOW ARE THOSE WHO ARE MISINFORMED OR ARE WILLING, FOR EMOTIONAL OR IMPATIENT REASONS, TO FOREGO AN OPPORTUNITY TO BUY FOR MUCH LESS (25% to 50%) IN A FEW YEARS. IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO DO SO — MORE POWER TO YOU.
“There was an article on yahoo last week that showed that this is a nationwide trend. Basically it said that women buy for emotional reasons and men for financial ones. That’s a simplistic summary, but read for yourself…
http://finance.yahoo.com/columnist/article/moneyhappy/17039
Sounds like the final throes of a psychologically driven bubble to me. But what do I know.”
Why do the rent vs buy camps have to hate each other. It all comes down to a bet on which way the market is going to go. This is not a moral issue. I guess in the end we hate each other because we have divergent interests. The renters can’t help but wish they could have bought at some mystical time in the past (like their neighbor did . . . who they resent), whether that is 2002, 1992, 1982 or 1972. They are hoping that the market crashes dramatically and they can buy again at mid 70s prices. The owners are anxious because there is a lot at risk when an asset is worth that much, no matter how much they try to deny the risk. They resent the renters because they know the renters are praying for their economic demise.
The intellectual level of this discussion is inspiring.
gurl power!
Funny women are buying and the prices are dropping, i guess they really are smart.
good job, girl from the article– you go!
I’m one of the females featured in the article – you might like to know that this is my 3rd purchase in 4 years. I used all my profits from the other two sales for this purchase (with a 30 year fixed mortgage) – so i guess i do kind of know what i’m doing. Good thing I didn’t have a male financial advisor….