By Wall Street Journal
The big wedding can wait. Couples are deciding they would rather take the plunge into homeownership.
In reshuffling the traditional order of adult milestones, some couples may decide not to marry at all, while others say they are willing to delay a wedding. Buying a home is as much, if not more of a commitment, they reason. It helps them build financial stability when the housing market is historically unaffordable.
In 2023, about 555,000 unmarried couples said that they had bought their home in the previous year, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Census Bureau data. That is up 46% from 10 years earlier, when just under 381,000 couples did the same.
Unmarried couples amounted to more than 11% of all U.S. home sales. The percentage has climbed steadily over the past two decades—a period in which marriage rates have fallen. These couples make up triple the share of the housing market that they did in the mid-1980s, according to the National Association of Realtors.
“While it is understandable that many unmarried couples are electing to invest in real property over a marriage ceremony, there still exists the unfortunate possibility that the relationship will end. If the couple splits while they are still unmarried, they are not afforded the protections of marital law that divides property equitably. Speaking with an attorney before entering a real property contract will, at the minimum, ensure that a couple is informed about the risks of the transaction over time. A couple might go so far as enter a cohabitation agreement that divides property acquired during the relationship that provides certainty in what each person will walk away with.”
Rose Law Group family law attorney Ashley Hutton
