Where Are Single Homeowners Buying the Most?

Some cities are seeing a growing number of single homeowners, and nearly three out of every 10 owner-occupied homes is a one-person household, says SmartAsset. That equates to 36.2 million homes owned by a single person. By comparing homeownership rates in 2015 to 2019 for the largest 100 cities in the country, SmartAsset identified the markets seeing the highest growth in single homeowners. Single homeowners may have different home wishlists compared to a couple or a couple with children. Results can help builders understand buyers even more. The top metro with the highest number of single homeowners is Aurora, Colo., followed by Anaheim, Calif., and Corpus Christi, TX.

Key Findings
Single homeownership overall has seen a slight decline. In the 100 cities that we analyzed, the net change in the percentage of single people who own their own home is actually a slight decrease of 0.56%. More than half of the cities in this study actually saw a decrease, with the biggest drop coming in Laredo, Texas – individual homeownership there went down by nearly 13 percentage points.

Four cities from 2020 rank again in 2021. While there has been some movement in the top 10 between this year’s study and the 2020 edition, four cities cracked the top 10 in both years. These are Anaheim, California; Corpus Christi, Texas; Mesa, Arizona; and Henderson, Nevada. On average, these four cities had a 2019 single homeownership rate of about 50% and a four-year increase in this rate of about 6.00%.

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