Girl power – women rule the roost in home buying decisions

East Midlands estate agency, Marble Property Services has released new data which suggests that women taking the lead in pushing house sales and purchase decisions.

According to the research, women are driving around 80% of house purchases as the pandemic eases.

Growing trend

Marble Property Services have said it appears women are either the sole buyer or are generally the main point of contact for eight out of 10 of the clients that they have dealt with this year. This also shows the narrative that men handle most property affairs is outdated.  

The trend is even more pronounced in the case of Marble Property’s latest development, Spittal Heights, in Castle Donington, In the case of all the recent reservations, all of the deals were led by women.

Steve Thrower, managing director of Marble Property Services, comments: “The days when men were in charge of big financial decisions, particularly in the housing sector, are long gone.”

Thrower continues: “Most of our clients this year have been women. Where they have male partners, they clearly have an input, but it is not unusual for them to just turn up for a second confirmatory house viewing – but it’s the women that are making the decisions and pushing the sales through.”

Women in property

The increase of girl power in the property market is not just prevalent in home buying and negotiations. In property companies, many senior positions are held by women, and this has helped to put buyers at ease.

Kirsty Samson, land and development director at Marble Property Services, says: “Many of our Land and New Homes purchasers have been relieved to find a woman in a senior position who they feel comfortable liaising with, through one of the most potentially stressful purchases they may ever make. They tell me they feel less intimidated, I take a more ‘softly-softly’ approach, definitely more than what was demonstrated to me when, for example, I bought my own first house.”

Thrower noted that he had seen a similar trend in the rental market, echoing many studies that place women ahead of men when it comes to influencing consumer spending decisions.

He concludes: “While most couples clearly discuss major purchases such as houses, my experience certainly indicates that men are generally happy to allow their wife or partner to take charge of house searching.”