House-buying women larger part of market.(FRIDAY HOME GUIDE)(CLICKS & MORTAR)

Byline: M. Anthony Carr, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Women have been taking a larger role in homeownership during the past few years, according to a new study from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

?Not only are unmarried women a large segment of the home-buying population,? says Rachel Bogardus Drew, author of the report, ?but they are fast-growing, too, increasing their share of home buyers by 50 percent in eight years. The value of their home purchases over a three-plus-year period totaled more than $550 billion.?

The study is as much a report on the sociological changes in our country as it is on women's buying …