For Adele Herman, home is where the art is.
Herman, of Dubuque, is a self-employed graphic designer and spends her days bringing abstract ideas and brands to life through a mix of print and digital products. It’s colorful, creative work, and she wants her workspace to be just as vibrant.
Working from home, however, that process often means turning her focus to interior design and home decor.
“Being such a creative, I love all things color. Nothing disturbs me more than a plain white wall, and I want to be able to put as much color in my home as I want to really make the space feel like me,” she said.
But doing so could be difficult in a rental, Herman noted, where there are often rules on what modifications can be made, covering everything from the color of the walls to the ways artwork can be hung and displayed.
That’s why in 2021, Herman, then 28, set out to purchase her own home once she decided she was ready to settle down in Dubuque.
After roughly 10 months searching the market, she found a home near downtown Dubuque that fit the bill: It was in a historic neighborhood with vintage charm, had room for a home office and plenty of space to entertain friends, clients and other visitors.
She closed on the property in November of 2021 and last year celebrated her third anniversary in the place she now calls home.
“There’s something so incredibly gratifying about knowing that you can do whatever you want with something you own,” she said. “I could decide tomorrow to paint a wall or build a firepit and no one could stop me.”
Herman is one of the growing number of single women to purchase her own home in the tri-state area and nationwide.
According to the National Association of Realtors’ 2024 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, single women make up 19% of all recent home sales: That’s up from 16% in 2014 and from just 10% in 1985.
At present, single women make up the second-highest home-buying group after married couples and are nearly twice as likely to purchase a home than single men, who account for 10% of home sales recorded in the most recent NAR report.
The reasons for that difference are varied, and at times personal, but have several leading causes related to lifestyle choices, age and other factors.
“I do a lot of work with single women who are looking to buy their own home, and as someone who did that myself just a few years ago, I love to see those women making their own choices and finding the place that’s right for them,” said Natalie Heck, a Dubuque-based Realtor with Century 21 Signature Real Estate.
Heck sells homes across northeast Iowa and said single women make up a significant portion of the clients she works with — a fact she attributed in part to her tendency to work with younger clients and first-time home buyers.
Already a force in the housing market, single women make up an even larger portion of younger buyers, with 31% of buyers between 18 and 24 being single women. This makes them just shy of the 32% of buyers who are married couples within that age range.
Heck described many of her younger clients as “fearless” buyers who are willing to face an at-times difficult market to find what they want.
“A lot of young people, both women and men, are showing up to the market and going after what they want,” she said. “They know what they’re looking for and they’re ready to work for it.”
Platteville, Wis.-based Realtor Hannah Haas seconded that experience. Haas works for Wisconsin Properties Realty and specializes in working with first-time buyers, relocation moves and investment properties in southwest Wisconsin.
She estimated that roughly 25% of her clients are single women who are looking for their own space. In addition to the independence that comes with owning a home, she said many women also are looking for the financial security that home equity could provide.
“Owning a home gives you that security that if something comes up, you have some equity to work with,” she said. “It lets you make leaps that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to.”
Age isn’t the only factor contributing to the trend, however.
According to NAR data, single female homebuyers also are more likely to have children younger than 18 in the home than single men, and they are more likely to live in a multigenerational home. In both situations, the stability of homeownership is appealing.
Women also tend to live longer than men, which can account for some of the discrepancies between single women and men who own their own homes at higher ages.
However, some discrepancies remain that disproportionately benefit men over women in the homebuying process.
Per the NAR, women face obstacles in home financing because of higher mortgage rates and predatory lending practices, and while the gender pay gap is shrinking, men statistically make more money than their female coworkers. Consequently, women tend to own homes of lesser value than men.
Those factors can make the homebuying process, which is already intimidating for some, seem even more daunting for single women.
“(My Realtor) made it fun, but I was definitely very overwhelmed with a lot of things,” said Janel Hickson, of Dubuque, who started looking for a home last year. “There were all these things that I had to know and figure out … and it was a lot to consider.”
Hickson, a human resources professional, started her housing search last year ahead of her divorce. She’d previously bought a home with her ex-husband, but last year marked her first foray into solo homebuying.
To overcome some of the anxiety that accompanied the process, Hickson said she leaned heavily on her Realtor, Beth Gilbreath, and supportive partners at her bank and within her family. She commended Gilbreath’s candor throughout the process and the guidance she offered along the way.
In time, Hickson’s efforts and support system paid off: She’s expected to close on her new home Feb. 14. The Dubuque house is big enough for her and her children, has a yard for her pets and plenty of space to make her own.
“I’m a little nervous, but I’m mostly excited,” she said. “I get to do whatever I want with this new space, and I’m really looking forward to making it feel like home.”