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The Participation of Women in the Housing Bubble

One of the unique characteristics of the Great Housing Bubble was the large increase in market participation among women, sometimes single women and sometimes as married women buying property on their own. Some amount of this is to be expected as single women establish careers and put off marriage. In the past, most single women rented as did most men in their 20s. Men would often buy a house even if they were single. Women more often would not buy a home when they were single. Many did not because they knew they would have to deal with two houses when they got married, and the property would be a hindrance. Also, based on consumer demographics and personal savings, single women have not historically been big savers. Sure there are always some who are responsible from a young age, but many single women prefer to run up big credit card bills obtaining the latest fashion trends than worry about saving money (and yes, single men spend a lot on beer too.) The trend toward married women buying property as "her sole and separate property" was also a new phenomenon.

So what changed during the Great Housing Bubble? First, since saving was eliminated as a condition of ownership, many single women decided to buy and have a home of their own. Rather than a property being a hindrance, it became a great speculative asset that provided huge amounts of extra spending money trough home equity lines of credit. With the large number of women working as mortgage brokers and realtors, it is likely that many of the purchases by married women as their sole and separate property were by those in the business. It was all part of making a living.

These purchases did not turn out to well for many. Was it worth it? Perhaps, many got to "live large" in their 20s from the home equity lines of credit on their house. The memories are great, and they still have time to recover financially. For the older singles and married women who speculated in the real estate market, there will be more serious ramifications. Few are going to label these purchases as works of genius.

By: Alex Gwen Thomson

Lawrence Roberts is the author of The Great Housing Bubble: Why Did House Prices Fall? Learn more and get FREE eBooks at: www.thegreathousingbubble.com/ Read the author's daily dispatches at The Irvine Housing Blog: www.irvinehousingblog.com/ Visit The Participation of Women in the Housing Bubble.

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