By Eli Underwood for Underwood Law
For unmarried partners and cohabiting couples navigating an extremely inflated housing market, financial resources are increasingly the only viable route onto the property ladder. Information from National Association of Realtors (NAR) indicates that their share among first-time buyers will increase from 4% in 1985 to 11% in 2025. However, while the joint mortgage solves an immediate economic problem, standard property laws fall behind the dynamic of this changing relationship. Underwood’s Law Check out what co-owners should know to avoid ending up in court when one person wants to sell but the other disagrees.
A matter of economic inevitability
The latest NAR data on US market first-time buyers to 2025 highlights the macroeconomic changes that dictate how people are getting on the property ladder today. Couples, both married and unmarried, still make up the vast majority at 61%, and the rise of cohabiting couples who have not yet tied the knot but share a mortgage has a simple economic explanation.
In 1985, the comparison year used in the report, the median household income was $23,620, and the median sales price for a home was $82,800, meaning a typical property worth about 3.5 times the buyer’s annual salary. Adjusted for inflation, that $82,800 is equivalent to about $228,500 in today’s dollars.
In contrast, looking at the real value of a median-priced home in 2025, the figure is roughly $416,900, showing that housing costs have greatly outpaced general inflation. This is equal to 5 times the average household income.
Then there is the stress of wedding expenses. D The average cost of a 2025 wedding According to The Knot was about $34,000.
Couples are pressed at both ends. buying a house and more expensive Rent is increasing Year by year, so there is more incentive to buy a home together until marriage. For a typical wedding budget, couples may have a significant portion of a mortgage down payment, so for many couples, the most financially prudent choice is to prioritize buying a home.
This also explains why 4% of first-time buyers in 2025 were not couples at all, but rather groups of friends choosing to prioritize property ownership. This model has economic benefits, but the long-term implications of property law are less well understood by the average buyer.
A legal hassle
What couples overlook, and what the legal system has to contend with, is that co-owning a property as an unmarried couple brings with it various complications and concerns.
When an unmarried couple buys a home, how they hold title is just as important as whose name is on the mortgage. Generally, they have to choose between two main legal frameworks and each governs futures very differently.
Protecting equity with joint tenancy
Both partners own equal 100% shares in the property. The feature defined here is the right of survivorship, and if one partner dies, their share automatically passes to the surviving partner, excluding wills and probate altogether.
Succession risk of common tenants
Ownership does not have to be equal. If one partner contributes 70% of the down payment and the other pays 30%, the title may reflect that exact split. But there is no right to live. If one partner dies, their share goes to whoever is named in their will or to their next of kin, who can leave the surviving partner to own a home with their late partner’s family.
Consider cohabitation agreements
To mitigate these title risks, a growing number of real estate professionals recommend executing a formal cohabitation agreement or property ownership agreement in conjunction with the mortgage signing.
A comprehensive agreement clearly outlines recurring financial obligations—who is responsible for mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance fees—and clearly defines how these contributions change the owner’s equity over time. Importantly, the document serves as an operational exit strategy.
It dictates the structure if the relationship ends, whether one partner retains the right of first refusal to buy the other’s equity, how the home will be appraised, and the exact timeline required before the property can be placed on the open market.
Property law, home ownership, and marriage tend to be an uneasy alliance
Choosing to buy a home before or instead of marriage is a very pragmatic response to a brutal 2026 housing market and broader economic realities. Pooling assets is often the only viable way onto the property ladder.
However, bypassing the altar should not mean bypassing the paperwork. Taking the time to establish a clear, legally binding framework at the outset ensures that a smart financial move today doesn’t turn into a costly legal battle tomorrow.
This is the story is produced by Underwood’s Law and review and distribution Stacker.
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Previously published at hub.stackernewswire
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