Through the years, home ownership and young, single males have mixed about as well as shag carpeting and hardwood flooring.
Whether due to a fear of commitment, a desire to stay flexible or an interest in investing money elsewhere, single men have tended to rent rather than own.
That is, they have until recently. Real estate professionals say the single man’s aversion to home ownership is fading.
From 1987 to 1999, the percentage of single males buying existing single-family, condominium and co-op homes rose, as a percentage of total home sales, from 7 to 9 percent, according to Kevin Roth, senior economist on the staff of the National Association of Realtors in Washington, D.C.
That percentage gain translated to nearly 265,000 more single males buying homes in 1999 than in 1987.
Talk to a number of single male buyers and real estate experts, and you’re likely to get a broad array of explanations for the surge in single males purchasing homes.
To many, it all comes down to investment wisdom.
“It seems silly to keep paying rent,” said Mark Jacobson, a 28-year-old research and development manager with a Chicago technology and management consulting firm, who is moving into his first home at Chicago’s Prairie Avenue Lofts on the Near South Side.
“You’re throwing money down the drain, and not getting anything in return,” he said.
“This is definitely an investment. And taking a look at how the stock market is performing these days, real estate I hope will be a better investment.”
Vin Walsh, a single 32-year-old physician’s assistant who recently bought his first home at Bolingbrook’s Bloomfield West, echoes that view.
“I’ve been renting all my life and have nothing to show for it,” he said. “Financially, it’s a much wiser investment to own than to continue to rent.”
The increasing tendency of single male buyers to see home ownership as a good investment is particularly noticeable among buyers of single-family homes, said Kathy Eiben, vice-president of sales and marketing with Streamwood-based Kirk Corp.
The home builder’s Chicago-area developments include Bloomfield West and Aurora’s The Lindens.
“Traditionally, it would have been singles — either women or men — purchasing townhouses. Now we’re seeing many more singles, particularly men, looking at single-family detached homes,” she said.
“They’re telling us that because the traditional investments have not been doing well, they’re looking for another avenue to invest their money. And this affords them an opportunity to upscale their lifestyle at the same time.”
Cathy Hill, division marketing manager for Centex Homes in its Schaumburg office, noted that “people are waiting longer to get married. The woman still chooses the house, so if men are waiting longer to get married, nobody’s buying the house for them.
“They’ve got to buy it on their own. They’re making a smart decision and building equity.”
The qualities that lure single men to their first homes are as individual as the buyers themselves.
For single men attracted to detached single-family home ownership, it’s often the appeal of having for the first time a yard for barbecues and backyard parties, Eiben ventured.
“And many men are very interested in the kitchen,” she said. “They do a lot of cooking and are interested in . . . the size of the island and the amount of cabinet and counter space.”
Other single men are choosing to buy to be close to recreational opportunities. That appears the case at Arrowhead South, a community of town homes in Lockport built by Centex Homes.
“We’ve had quite a few single male buyers,” said Hill.
“The big attraction is the golf course. Our homes border the Broken Arrow Golf club, and golf is still predominantly a male sport.”
Additionally, she said, “they’re attracted by the ability to live in a community where they can play in their own backyards.”
Some home builders cite the appeal for young males of a mix of recreational options and maintenance-free living. At Inverness at Gregg’s Landing in Vernon Hills, a community of maintenance-free single-family homes built by Buffalo Grove-based Zale Homes, single men can hit the links at the adjacent White Deer Run Golf Course.
Or they can bike, run or cross-country ski the trails that meander through the property. And, said Zale Homes’ director of sales Patt Mohapp, “they have a chance to have a single-family home, and not come home and mow the yard.”
Condominium builders are also witnessing growth in interest from single male buyers.
“It seems just over the last two years that I’ve seen a difference; the demographics have really changed,” noted Lynne Gregg, sales manager of R. Franczak and Associates, builder of several Des Plaines condominium communities.
She reports that when the company built Insignia two years ago, 15 percent of the buyers were single males. That figure leaped to 25 percent last year when it unveiled Park Place.
The single male buyers she encounters are chiefly well-heeled professionals who appreciate generous space within the condos, Gregg said:
“Most are interested in a two-bedroom. Most of them need an office at home, and the second bedroom is allocated for their home office.”
The same interest from single males has been noted at Evanston Galleria, said Bob Horner, one of the managing partners of Evanston Galleria Investors LLC.
“In my experience in a condo development, you’ll see more single women buying than you will single men,” Horner said. “But in this project, it’s the reverse. In fact, it may be five single men for every single woman. We don’t have any idea why. It may just be random chance.”
As for Prairie Lofts on the Near South Side, “I think the lifestyle that the loft allows, with the exposed ductwork and the look and feel of a vintage Chicago industrial building, just appeals to certain buyers,” said Warren Barr, of Legacy Development Group.
Neighborhood is trendy
New resident Jacobson notes that, “It’s a very up-and-coming neighborhood about eight blocks south of Roosevelt [Road] between Michigan [Avenue] and Lake Shore Drive,” he said. “There’s a lot of new construction in the area, and that bodes well.”
Tim Emond, a heating and air conditioning service technician who is single, bought his first single-family home four years ago at the tender age of 23, and recently traded up to a bigger three-bedroom, 2 1/2-bath home at Bloomfield West in Bolingbrook.
“It was an investment. Why rent when you can own?” he said. “Besides, how can you throw a wild and obnoxious party when you have neighbors living below you?”
