Homebuyers

Big Day or Buy a Home? Why More Unmarried Couples are Becoming Homeowners

First comes love, then comes buying a home?

Facing high housing and living costs, many couples are pooling their savings and buying homes together before tying the knot.

Roughly 555,000 unmarried couples purchased homes together in 2022, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. This was a 46% increase from a decade earlier.

“We see quite a few unmarried couples looking to purchase homes,” said Ryan Connolly, an associate real estate broker at Keller Williams Realty in Buffalo, N.Y.

About 9% of all homebuyers were unmarried couples, according to a National Association of Realtors report. These buyers purchased primary residences between July 2023 and June 2024.

Younger buyers were more likely to buy homes together before getting hitched. About 19% of buyers ages 25 to 33 were unmarried couples, according to the report.

“Buyers [aren’t] making getting married the first step. If they have a commitment to each other and they have decided this is the time to buy a home, I’m not necessarily seeing that one must come before the other,” Connolly said.

High rents are one of the culprits. Nationally, the median rental price was $1,370 a month in February, according to Apartment List data.

“They’re buying now because renting is so expensive,” said Connolly. In some parts of the country, they could pay the same amount and be building equity for a home of their home.”

However, buying a home can also be pricey, even when leveraging available resources through down payment assistance programs. Many couples are combining their finances to make homeownership possible.

They may also prioritize homeownership before marriage because many Americans are getting married later than in previous years.

In 2024, the typical man got married for the first time at 30.2 years old, while the typical woman was 28.6 years old, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. In 2004, the median age of marriage was 27.4 years for men and 25.3 years for women.

Plus, building a life with someone they love in a home of their own can be very romantic. 

“They’re really excited to have this space of their own, no matter what their marital status may be,” said Connolly.