Solo women homebuyers 30% more likely to be denied mortgage than solo men: study

Homeowners are falling behind on mortgage payments in these states

A new study reveals that more people are starting to fall behind on their mortgage, as costs that come with buying a home, such as taxes and insurance, rise faster than many people can keep up with. Melissa Cohn, Regional Vice President of William Raveis Mortgage, joined LiveNOW from FOX to discuss.

Solo women homebuyers are 30% more likely to be denied a mortgage than solo males, a new  LendingTree study found. 

Analysts say the reason for the large disparity is two-fold: sexism and women’s lower incomes. 

What they're saying:

"Women tend to have smaller incomes than men, and that can create homebuying challenges," Matt Schulz, LendingTree chief consumer finance analyst, said in a news release. 

FILE - Real estate for sale signs in Antioch, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Expand

Although income doesn’t factor into your credit score, it does "massively" impact your debt-to-income ratio and your ability to save for a down payment, Schulz explained. 

RELATED: Nearly 1 in 5 homes slashed prices last month, despite falling mortgage rates

"Those things matter a lot," Schulz said. "Of course, when it comes to men being more likely than women to buy a home, there are other factors as well, including sexism, but it’s hard to overstate how important income is to the homebuying process."

By the numbers:

LendingTree found that solo women applicants face a 15.7% denial rate, compared to 12.1% among solo males. 

Solo women comprised 21.9% of potential homebuyers in 2024, compared with 32.8% for solo men — 1.5 men for every woman, LendingTree says. 

In 2024, solo women homebuyers took on $173.3 billion in mortgage debt, while solo men homebuyers borrowed a whopping $328.7 billion. There were 949,477 new home loans for solo men last year and 600,817 for solo women. 

Where are the biggest disparities? 

Local perspective:

Overall, solo female applicants are 29.8% more likely to be denied a mortgage than solo males, but that number is higher in some states and much lower in others. The largest disparities in denial rates are in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. 

RELATED: Potential homebuyers are giving up, survey finds

There are six states where mortgage denial rates are higher for solo male applicants than solo females: D.C., Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island. 

There’s not only a gap in denials, LendingTree found. In most places, there are more solo male applicants than solo females. Washington, D.C. is the only place in the U.S. with more solo female applicants than solo males. The gap is the biggest in Utah, where there are twice as many solo male applicants than solo females.