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
Of course, more single men still buy than single women. So it must be that those men are finally coming to the sad sad fact that they will be single and lonely an childless forever. And eventually will die alone and be eaten by one of the 14 cats.
Two months before 9/11 I closed on a 1BR apartment in Brooklyn Heights. Yes, I was a single professional female and no I did not buy it as a substitute for a husband (they make things with batteries for that).
I made the purchase becasue it was a sound financial decision and I would make the same decision today (despite the uncertainty in the market). Unless one is buying soley for “investment purposes” I think that buying real estate is rarely a bad decision – these women are being smart.
BTW, I am now married and a new mom, and $200k richer (sold the apartment earlier this year). My husband on the other is still lamenting the fact that he spent the bulk of this life “making is landlord rich”.
To all the singletons out there, if you have the savings and can afford to carry a mortgage – buy! Hey, if you loose your job you can always rent your place out to a swinging single man and move in with your ____________ (fill in the blanks).
Way to go. If the Wall St. bonuses aren’t forthcoming, at least the single women will buoy the market. How can you lose when they are buying in a falling market because they need a “support network”? That is shrewd thinking.
Hey Anon 11:06: what exactly do you offer in your ad for single women other than great take-out?
Bad for NYT to interview subjects from the Developers Group. Like they could not find other buyers. I always thought NYT was soft on real estate industry in general.
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.
AnonWB, absolutely right…me thinks these ladies are “drinking the Koolade” and buying into their own marketing promotions. Besides, makes the Developers Group look as if they have a softer side…yeah, right.
And is that a Mr. S building too boot?
Shame on the NYT, total fluff piece.
Back when I was 28 years old, I purchased a one-bedroom in Manhattan for a ridiculously low price. Everyone else in my circle of friends that owned NYC apartments or homes were also single women. I think we were pretty smart cookies and it had nothing to do with the fear of no rings on our fingers.
P.S. I hate cats.
Save the venom, people b/c here’s what I think. (And, it’s not good for men) It’s wonderful that single women are buying. That’s good for NY, the economy, women in general. But, not very good for men. Because, when a single woman guys an apt., just proves to her that she doesn’t need a man for anything. And this feeling of power, of individuality, might seriously preclude a woman from actually being able to give that up if a man comes along. Don’t believe me? I’m a single man who’s met more that 1 woman recently who owns her own apartment. What they’ve said to me is that they find it unlikely they could ever give that up. That the addiction to being the sole owner of an apt. is so strong, the idea of sharing it (or mvoing in with their man and sharing his) seems unlikely. I dated this girl last year. She owned a studio on the UWS. She wroked her ass off to come up with the downpayment. WHen we talked about moving in together, the idea of selling this place of hers scared the hell out of her. “How can I give up what I worked so hard for?” she asked. So single women can buy apartments. But what they can’t do b/c of this is wind up sharing their life with a man.