The number of single people buying homes has dipped in the last few years, but single women remain better represented among buyers than single men. Today they are buying at roughly twice the rate.

According to the National Association of Realtors, single women accounted for 16 percent of home buyers last year, lower than their long-term average of 20 percent. Yet they were still well ahead of single men, who accounted for only 9 percent.

Women began to outpace men in home-buying in the late 1990s, and although no one is really sure why men haven’t caught up, “it may be as simple as most guys don’t get serious about housing until they meet the right woman,” said Walter Molony, a spokesman for the association.

Demographic changes are helping to fuel the trend. More women than ever are the primary earners in their households, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.