Gen Z single women are buying homes. They need an estate plan

Women in their 20s are buying homes in growing numbers, according to a new study. They may want to consider pairing the purchase with another financial task: Creating an estate plan.

More than a third, 35%, of Gen Z home buyers are single women, according to the National Association of Realtors’ 2026 Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends report, which is based on transactions made between July 2024 and June 2025. The Gen Z buyers were ages 18 to 26.

The share is up from 30% the prior year and is the highest of any age group, the study shows. It is also nearly twice the 18% of Gen Z buyers who are single men.

Despite purchasing what might now be their largest asset, these new homeowners may not yet have taken steps to protect it, financial advisors say.

An estate plan is part of that consideration. In simple terms, it is a set of legal documents that spell out both what you want to happen to your assets — including your house — at death, as well as who is authorized to make decisions for you if you end up incapacitated at any point before then.

“You get the rare person who thinks about it … but the overwhelming majority buy the house and then are thrust right back into their 40- or 50-hour work week,” said certified financial planner Jeff Judge, a managing partner with Chesapeake Financial Planners in Forest Hill, Maryland.

Single women have long made up a larger share of homeowners than single men, although the gap is narrowing, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2022, women owned 58% of the nearly 35.2 million homes owned by unmarried Americans, compared with 42% for men, according to the group. That compares with 64% and 36%, respectively, in 2000.

Yet 60% of women have no estate planning documents in place, versus 50% of men, according to Trust & Will’s 2026 Estate Planning Report. And among all singles, the share who have a will — a key estate planning document — is 16%, compared with 37% of married individuals. 

At the same time, homeownership may help spur estate planning: 40% of homeowners have a will, compared with 16% of renters, according to the Trust & Will report.

Be aware that assets passing through the will generally are subject to probate. That’s the process of settling someone’s estate and involves the will being validated by the court, taxes and debt being paid, and assets getting distributed to heirs.