Homebuilders are learning what single women have known intuitively for years, single women are purchasing new homes and condos at increasing rates, and are now the second-largest segment of homebuyers. (In 2005, single women accounted for 21 percent of all homebuyers, second only to married couples.)

These statistics have homebuilders taking notice and are now designing their homes to be appealing to women. Features like skylights, laundry rooms upstairs, upscale kitchens easy-clean floors and better security options are being included to attract this growing share of the home-buying market.

Homebuilders are so intent on reaching out to this venerable market force that one of the nation’s largest homebuilders recently partnered with domestic diva to Martha Stewart to create an entire housing community featuring homes with features that appealed to female buyers. The community, co-branded between KB Home and Martha Stewart Omnimedia in Cary, North Carolina, just outside of Raleigh was completed in March, 2006. The homes features some of the interior and exterior touches Stewart boasts in her homes, including large closets, spa-like bathrooms and shelving in the bathrooms.

Their initial offering of 650 homes, which ranged from $180,000 to more than $400,000, proved to be extremely popular, according to Bruce Karatz, chief executive of KB Home “Within a few weeks of offering the homes in Cary, we sold all the lots we could sell in the grand opening phase,” Karatz said. In fact, KB Home and Stewart are currently planning on building similar housing communities in Atlanta, Charlotte, Houston, Las Vegas, Florida and California.

There may be many reasons for the upsurge in single females purchasing homes, including women staying single longer, their increased access to better paying jobs and a higher divorce rate.

But whatever the reasons, it seems certain that the trend will continue indefinitely, and homebuilders will continue to provide amenities that cater to them.

By David Plowman

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