Women Climbing the Corporate and Real Estate Ladders
Sex In The City glamorized the image of the urban single woman, with a gorgeous apartment, a stylish wardrobe, an exciting life and means to pay for it all. Television has elevated the archetype of the powerful professional women to a cultural icon. With the premieres this season of Cashmere Mafia and Lipstick Jungle, two more sexy dramas about upwardly mobile women in their 30s, successful females have finally hit the limelight.
Ever notice that, on these shows, the characters always live in unrealistically spectacular apartments? Do you wonder if real women in a similar situation can afford to own such nice digs? Well, art must be imitating life because as women move up the corporate ladder, they also move up the property ladder.
A recent article in the Financial Times took a closer look at the number of women investing in real estate. According to the FT, there has been a 4% increase in single woman buying homes in the past 3 years. The number of female first-time homebuyers increased from 11% in 2005 to 15% in 2007.
Camilla Black works at Black Brick Property Solutions, a home search firm. She has observed a trend of more women purchasing real estate as they become successful bankers, hedge fund managers and saleswomen. She first noticed a trend of successful female professionals buying their own homes in 2003 and the pattern has stayed consistent.
Statistical research in the UK shows women marrying at the average age of 29.5, compared to 22.8 in 1976. In the United States, while the average age of marriage for women has risen to 28 nationwide, it is much higher in urban areas. In New York City, statistics show that the average age of marriage is 30-34. With more time to build a career, amass significant assets and even find their place in corporate boardrooms, women are also finding that they have an opportunity to invest in increasingly posh homes as well.
“Women are staying single for longer and are empowered to buy on their own and buy the ultimate bachelor(ette) pad,” said Dell.
Harvard University conducted a study in 2006 that revealed women make up 1/5 of the real property market. And women aren’t just entering the market, they are conquering it.
According to Jason Tebb, the branch director of Quintessentially Estates in London, women are entering the property market in the $2 million category.
With the funds to purchase exactly what they are looking for, it is apparent that upwardly mobile women and men differ when it comes to essentials for their home. The article explains that women look for a way to leave their mark on the property market. Buying a place that needs to be refurbished or a “fixer-upper” allows for this. Also, women see their new home as a representation of where they are in life. In essence, their purchase is an outlet for self-expression.
Quinton Bull works at a niche mortgage brokerage, Indigo, as the managing director. He says that men see property as a financial investment and look at their home as an asset. For women, he says, the decision is an emotional one.
In big cities from New York to Chicago to London, more and more young women find that they have the financial means to put a down payment on a co-op or condo and get out of the renting rat-race, even at inflated city prices. For example, a 26-year-old friend of mine working in sales at a financial software company, bought her first home in Chicago’s South Loop area. She says that location was the most important factor when she purchased the condo.
“My mom and aunts can’t believe I own my home,” she says, “they weren’t that independent when they were my age.”
As women in careers like finance and law continue to move up the career ladder, they are proving that they can stand side by side in the real estate market, as well as in the boardroom.
