Tight mortgage financing has restricted home buying for many, but dual income couples have been able to overcome this obstacle, according to the National Association of Realtors.
NAR's Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers showed 65 percent of all buyers were married couples. Single women, single men and unmarried couples all made up small percentages of buyers.
"We've known for some time that stringent mortgage credit standards have been holding back home sales, but these findings show single buyers have been hurt the most over the past two years," said Paul Bishop, NAR vice president of research.
If lending standards were not restricted, Bishop said total home sales could be 10 to 15 percent higher.
The inability of single men and women and unmarried couples to obtain a mortgage could have helped fuel the demand in the single-family rental market. According to CoreLogic's MarketPulse Report, single-family rent demand remains strong. The increasing demand has created a tightening inventory and rising rents.
