While prior reports by LendingTree [1]have found single women own homes at higher rates than men, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) [2]reports that women have less knowledge on mortgages than men, possibly leading to higher costs.
LendingTree reports that 21% of first-time buyers that were female were familiar with the types of mortgages available, compared to 27% of men.
Data was compiled from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s National Survey on Mortgage Originations, which details borrower’s experiences in getting a residential mortgage. The CFPB has conducted this survey in each quarter since 2014 to borrowers who recently obtained a mortgage to gather information on their experience on the process.
The report also found 47% of women that are repeat borrowers were familiar with different types of mortgages, with 56% of men being familiar with different mortgage types.
LendingTree stated that women were less familiar with the mortgage process for both first-time and repeat borrowers. The biggest disparity for first-time buyers was those familiar with “mortgage rates available at the time,” with just 28% of women saying they were familiar. Thirty-seven percent of men said they were familiar with this topic.
Repeat borrowers had a large gap in knowledge about “different types of mortgages available,” as 47% of women, compared to 56% of men, saying they were familiar with this topic.
The report found that 55% of women and 45% of men considered one lender/broker before applying for their mortgage. Just 1% of both men and women considered five or more lenders/brokers. Also, 79% of women and 77% of men applied to just one broker/lender for their mortgage.
Those that applied to more than one lender/broker—19% of men and 16% of women—were looking for better loans.
The report added that there 6 million total home sales in 2018, with 22% from single women, and extra costs accrued from not shopping around have come to more than $1 billion.
According to the survey, 79% of both male and female repeat borrowers had extensive knowledge of their credit score and credit history.