Kate Wood, lending expert at Nerd Wallet, and Kristina Modares, co-purchasing strategist at Joynt, reveal why young women are avoiding marriage for non-romantic homeownership.
Co-buying houses, platonically? This is an emerging trend among owners today.
Kate Wood, lending expert at NerdWallet, told Fox News Digital that co-purchasing is attractive because housing is “incredibly expensive in the United States.”
Wood said people are co-purchasing homes with friends and family: “What we’re seeing on the rise now is co-purchases between friends. Or people who are family, but are essentially buying a house with someone you have a non-romantic relationship with. »
According to the National Association of RealtorsAccording to the 2025 profile, first-time home buyers were 25% single women and 10% single men, while the share of married couples remained stable at 50%, based on data collected from July 2024 to June 2025. In comparison, among all home buyers, 61% are married couples, 21% are single women, and 9% are single men.
NAR also reported that the median age to buy a home for the first time increased from 38 in 2024 to 40. Additionally, purchases by new owners accounted for 21% of all buyers in 2025.
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Kristina Modares, co-buying strategist at Joynt, shared her experience co-buying with friends, family, and a romantic partner.
“I tried to buy a house when I was 23. I don’t know why I thought I could do it on my own,” she told Fox News Digital. “I was like, yeah, like I live with five roommates. Like, I can do that. And then looking at it, I couldn’t get proof or a mortgage. So I asked a friend, and he was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to buy a house with you.’ So that’s how I got into this business. »
Wood said one in four home purchases was made by a single woman in 2024.
“It’s really intriguing that it’s single women who make up this largest proportion, because it’s significantly higher than single men,” Wood said.
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Wood said this signals a shift away from “old-fashioned” methods. a modern way of owning a home.
“Now we’re seeing people doing things in the order that’s best for them, given their financial situation, but also emotionally, just how they’re feeling, how ready they are for these different steps at different times,” she said.
Modares cautioned that the decision to co-purchase should not be taken lightly, saying one must be prepared to “police oneself” and be a good partner.
Modares added that this trend may encourage homeownership to be viewed as an investment.
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A “For Sale” sign in front of a red brick house on the market. (iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)
“The American dream is really being reinvented in many ways. So it’s kind of allowing for more options and ways to dream,” Modares said. “Co-purchasing is sort of evolving to meet Americans where they are today.”
Modares said she is excited about the new way people are choosing to own a home.
“I think it’s also the world changing in different ways that’s pushing us to live more in community, which I’m really, honestly passionate about,” she said.
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The median Monthly housing payment in the United States fell to its lowest level in two years, but it could have fallen even further if sales prices had not continued to rise, according to a recent report from Redfin.
Monthly housing payment fell to $2,413 in the four weeks ending January 11. However, the national median sales price of homes climbed again, up 1% year-over-year. That’s a significant decline from the 4% to 5% increase in early 2025, according to the brokerage’s Thursday report.
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The subways which experienced the largest declines occurred mainly in the South and on the West Coast. For example, the largest declines were in Dallas and San Jose, California, where median home sales prices fell 4.4% and 3.7% year-over-year, respectively.
In total, about 15 metro areas saw their median home sales price drop in the four weeks ending Jan. 11.
The cities that saw the largest increases were Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago and Warren, Michigan.
Daniella Genovese of Fox Business contributed to this report.
