Big Ticket Urban Real Estate: Guess Who’s Writing the Checks?
Look closely. Who’s signing the paperwork and writing the deposit checks for $700K + condos in the big cities? Both single and married women, apparently.
As reported by Christine Haughney in the New York Times, "Women Unafraid of Condo Commitment" (reg. required), condominiums in just one Brooklyn building are reflecting a national trend I’ve mentioned before:
In the last five months, single women spent more than $30 million out
of the $100 million or so in sales in the 299-unit condominium. In
fact, single women bought 72 of the first 165 apartments sold. Spending
by these women far surpassed that of single men, who accounted for $19
million.
Just like they tend to do with investments, women see a bigger, longer term picture while men tend to be motivated to find the best deal they could possibly get right now (taking perhaps a shorter term view).
Finally, here’s what one of the developers interviewed for the NYT piece has found:
He also sees more married women writing the $60,000-to-$100,000 deposit
checks. “It’s the women’s checks,” he said. “It’s not like a dual
account — Joe and Suzy. It’s Suzy. I’m amazed.”
It IS Suzy, and you shouldn’t be amazed.
