By Paula Wolf

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa - Kris Parmer will soon take a dramatic step.

Later this month, the divorced mom of two children, ages 11 and 9, plans to move into the first house she's ever bought alone.

Parmer, who works in sales for a car dealership, admitted to being excited and nervous at the prospect.

But after living briefly with her mother and then renting an apartment for two years, she said she's definitely ready to purchase.

"I wanted to make sure I had some [financial] stability," Parmer said. "I needed my comfort level."

"It's not my dream house," she said of the semidetached residence she's buying, "but it's a chance to start building equity" and to provide a nice home for her children.

Single women like Parmer make up the fastest-growing segment in today's real estate market, a trend that's just as evident locally as nationally. Unmarried females comprise more than a fifth of all home purchasers and outnumber single male buyers by almost 2½ to 1.

More women than men now graduate from college, and they have better access to money and credit than ever before. Many are choosing to get married later, and some not at all. Others are divorced or widowed and perhaps purchasing houses by themselves for the first time.

'A definite trend'
More than half the buyers she's currently working with are single women, said agent Dawn Brill-Cooper of Coldwell Banker HomeSale Services Group.

"I'm in shock," she said.

The increase has been gradual, but it's really picking up steam now, said Brill-Cooper, who's been in real estate since the mid-1990s.

"I've seen strong markets, and I've seen weak markets, and this is a definite trend."

The proportion of single women purchasing homes climbed from 14 percent in 1995 to 22 percent last year, according to the National Association of Realtors' most-recent market profile.

During that same period, the percentage of buyers who were married couples dropped from 70 to 61.

On the other hand, single males comprise only 9 percent of the market, a figure that's changed little since 1995, said Stephanie Singer, an NAR spokeswoman. In 1981, the percentages of single men and single women buyers were about even.

Forty-six percent of female buyers are first-time homeowners, compared with 36 percent of all purchasers, the NAR reported.

Addressing the growing market-share disparity between single women and single men, NAR spokesman Walter Molony said:

"Men don't get serious about homes until they find the right woman. But women are serious about buying homes now."

He said the percentage of female purchasers, now in excess of one in five, is reaching its "mature and natural level."

By 2010, Fannie Mae estimates that as many as 31 million single women will be homeowners, making up 28 percent of all U.S. households.

This growth has been decades in coming. In 1974, the Fair Housing Act was amended to prohibit sex discrimination. Prior to that, it was hard for a woman to get a mortgage or a credit card in her own name.

The amendment said it was illegal for landlords, lenders, real estate agents and others involved in housing to impose different terms and conditions on women than on men.

However, stereotypes haven't been completely banished.

When she called to get pre-approval for her mortgage, Kris Parmer said, the man she was talking to assumed she was married.

Bill Puffer, a co-owner of Puffer Morris Real Estate, which does the bulk of its sales in Lancaster city, said he's seen more single women purchase homes.

And they're in every neighborhood, he said.

Here's one benefit: Women not thrilled with the idea of mowing huge yards don't have to worry about that with a city house.

Single female buyers are, in fact, more likely to buy a home in an urban location than purchasers as a whole, the NAR reported.

Coming a long way
Home builders are taking note of the trend, too, and incorporating amenities that appeal to women buyers, such as upstairs laundry rooms; bathrooms with skylights; easy-to-clean slate floors; security features; built-in vacuum cleaners; gourmet kitchens; and name-brand appliances.

Brill-Cooper said a lot of female buyers she sees are "taking the first step" as homeowners and moving into townhouses.

Randy Hess, an agent with Town & Country Realty, said 20 to 25 percent of the buyers in Millstone Village, a townhome neighborhood in Manor Township, are single women of all ages.

"I think it's great," he said.

Michelle Ouellette, an accountant with Lancaster General College of Nursing & Health Sciences, moved into a townhouse two months ago. It's the first home she's purchased alone.

Ouellette said she enjoys being part of a new-home community, and appreciates not having to worry about outside maintenance.

"I love it," she said. "It's wonderful."

According to the NAR, single females are more likely to purchase an apartment, condominium, townhouse or rowhouse than the average buyer, though the majority of them still choose detached homes.

The median income for a single-female purchaser was $48,100 in 2005, compared with $71,800 for all home buyers, the NAR said. Because more than two-thirds of purchasers were married or unmarried couples, that gap is no surprise. On the other hand, single women who bought a house did have a median income higher than that of the average household.

"Years ago, you got out of school, married and had kids," Brill-Cooper said.

Now, the average woman waits until her mid-20s to wed. Also, a solid majority of college students today are female, so access to good jobs, and incomes, is increasing.

Carol J. Auster, a professor of sociology at Franklin & Marshall College, said women's "expectations have changed regarding work, family and home."

More females hold full-time jobs, and a larger number have the economic wherewithal to buy a house than ever before, she said.

Today, "women will set out on their own without a partner in their life," she said.

"Many choose to be single their entire lives," Auster said. And of those who do marry, an increasing percentage aren't following the same order - wed first, then buy a house - as previous generations.

But she also injected a note of caution. A lot of women, Auster said, are still working the kind of low-paying jobs that make home ownership a pipe dream.

Ryan Hess, a partner in Realty Select Inc., said the market includes more divorced females as well as a number of professional women between the ages of 24 and 30.

Purchasing a house is easier now because women are earning more at a younger age, and because lenders offer mortgages requiring little or no down payment, he said.

The NAR's Molony agreed that expanded credit is a factor.

Because they can afford to buy on their own, fewer young women are choosing to "stay at home with Mom and Dad," said Hess, who's no relation to Randy Hess.

But they also don't want a lot of outside maintenance, which is why townhomes are popular, he said.

Brill-Cooper said she sees her daughter's home purchase "as an investment."

And if she does get married, she'll have equity to bring to the partnership, her mother said. "Why rent?"

Today's females are "more successful in the workplace" and are "feeling more independent," which makes home ownership a natural goal, Brill-Cooper said.

"I think it's very healthy. ... I'm proud to be working with them, and I'm proud of them," she said.

"You've come a long way, baby."

Read the original article at Lancaster Online.