In Asia and the rest of the world, gentrification is playing an unheard-of role. Asia Times reported that in these places, as well as in others, women who married later in life drove the demand for housing and also affected pricing. SIngle women who worked high-paying jobs created a 'mini-dash' for affordable housing.
In a display of markets, San Francisco (US) and Hong Kong (China) have a huge problem with housing. The San Francisco market currently has 12% of the population that can afford median-priced housing. Hong Kong, globally recognized as one of the most expensive markets in the world, has a market that's been unkind to 90,000 families which are currently living in horrible housing.
The study pointed toward women who have been left unmarried. In China, the social stigma with these women was that they were already undesirable over the age of 27. Hong Kong has a different cultural view, where these women are seen as 'empowered' and have jobs that drive the price of housing upwards--hence, the reason why there is a median price that keeps going higher and higher.
Gentrification shifts from rental units to owner-occupied ones have driven housing market prices upwards. In areas such as San Francisco and Hong Kong, this process has created a share of units where owners living in them have gone up from 45.5%, a value taken in 1986, to 64% in a span of 20 years.
Fast Company reported that single women have gone up in numbers as compared to single men. Analysts have observed a 53.2% rise in twenty years, as compared to just 15.2% for the men. The number of divorcees in those neighborhoods share a slightly similar rate, where single women still hold the lion's share as compared to divorced or separated men.
Other cities such as London, New York, Vancouver, and Singapore have a similar trend going on. Delays in finding suitable life partners, as well as preferring to stay single and land a high-paying job, is on the rise. Women have become increasingly empowered but that, according to analysts, is not to blame, nor are they responsible for the gentrification.
These areas also have a collection of married women which could also be pinpointed towards gentrification. Single people are driving the prices on both ends--while they are behind the increase of pricing in real estate, they could also be huge benefits toward the economy and the workforce of these regions.
