This is particularly true for mortgages between R 1 million and R3 million where 57 percent of mortgages granted to those under the age of 30 went to women. For mortgages under R1 million this figure drops to 54 percent, still placing women in the lead.
The same trend can also be seen in the 30 to 39 age group, where more mortgages were granted to women for under R300 000. However, in this age group, a noticeable shift occurs as the mortgage value increases and for mortgages over R300 000 men overtake women, albeit slightly, in the number of mortgages granted.
From the above data it would appear that, although in the younger age groups more mortgages are granted to women, a sudden shift occurs in the 40 to 49 age group where, irrespective of the size of the mortgage, more men were granted mortgages. In fact, according to the research, the majority of mortgages granted for the quarter were to men in the age bracket of 40 to 49.
Compuscan data analyst Jacobus Eksteen confirmed these findings by stating that "the binomial hypothesis test confirms with more than 99.99 percent certainty that the difference between the percentage men and women for the different mortgages amounts and ages is statistically significant". Thus, while women dominate in the lower age brackets and lower mortgage balances, this trend undergoes a significant shift in the higher age brackets and higher mortgage balances where men take the lead.
This noticeable shift could be attributed to a number of factors - one of which may be due to the salary gap between men and women. A survey conducted by WageIndicator in November 2011 indicated that women under the age of 25 are paid 15 percent less than their male counterparts. This value increased to 25 percent in the age category of 35 to 50 and, furthermore, to 27 percent for those over 50 years of age. This gradual increase in the discrepancy between men's and women's salaries in the middle-age group may account for why more men are granted mortgages in this age bracket.
The shift could also be attributed to the fact that more and more women are choosing to boycott the traditional roles of motherhood until their mid- to late-30s and then re-enter the job market after they have raised their children. This "break" in their experience can significantly affect their career progression as well as their chances of being promoted to higher paying positions in middle-age.
Although the above reasoning seems plausible, the shift may in fact not be the result of external influences, but rather due to a change in the mindset of today's young women. It is no doubt that modern young women differ vastly from their predecessors in terms of career focus and values. They have been raised to be independent, self-reliant and, above all, equal to their male counterparts, with many women choosing to place career ambitions over motherhood. This new-age breed of independent woman is also more likely to be self-reliant and deviate from the typically prescribed norms, which dictate that the purchasing of a home be a man's role. Could it, thus, be possible that more mortgages were granted to women under the age of 30 as a result of the birth of the new-age woman? And, more importantly, if this is the case, will we eventually see women overtaking men across all age brackets in the property market as these independent thinkers enter middle-age. Only time will tell.
