Exclusive | Married couples are NYCs largest homeowner group except in 1 borough

Forget the white picket fence with a family living within it.In Manhattan, the modern homeowner is more likely to be signing the deed alone, or with a partner who isn’t a spouse, than walking down the aisle first.A new PropertyShark analysis of homeownership across New York City found that married couples remain the dominant owner group citywide, but Manhattan bucks that pattern entirely. Nonfamily owners — meaning residents who live solo or share a home with an unmarried partner or roommate rather than a spouse or relatives — edge out married-couple families on the island, 48% to 45%.

It’s the only city borough where that flip happens.Citywide, married-couple families still hold the largest share of homes at 51%, though that trails the 59% national average by a wide margin. Nonfamily owners, meanwhile, make up 31% of the city’s homeowner pool, well above the 27% rate seen nationally, underscoring just how different New York’s housing culture is from the rest of the country.Outside Manhattan, the traditional family unit still rules. Staten Island leads the pack with 60% of homes owned by married couples, followed closely by Brooklyn and Queens at 53% apiece.The Bronx trails the other boroughs at 42%, though married couples remain the top owner type there too.Zoom into individual neighborhoods and Manhattan’s dominance as a singles’ borough gets even starker. Eight of the 10 New York City neighborhoods where nonfamily owners are the majority sit in Manhattan, led by Central Park South at 73%, Hudson Yards at 69% and Tudor City at 68%. Meanwhile, the most traditional pocket of homeownership in the entire city is Mill Basin in Brooklyn, where married couples hold a commanding 75% share, the highest of any neighborhood surveyed.The data also flags a quieter shift in who’s leading households. Female-led families, meaning homes headed by a woman with relatives present and no spouse, are the top owner type in five NYC neighborhoods, topping out at...