Seven years ago, Evanston resident Carol Lee Barry made a life-changing decision. At age 42 and after 14 years of cutting a check to her landlord every month, she took the plunge into homeownership.

"It was time for me to buy something and get some home equity," Barry said.

"The process was not as nearly scary for me as it was for my father, who truly believed a woman could not buy a home on her own."

And Barry isn't alone.

According to the National Association of Realtors, single buyers represented 31 percent of all home purchasers for the year period that ended June 30, a 5 percent increase over the last two years.

Single women are dipping into their wallets the most. Twenty-two percent of all buyers nationally were single women, while 9 percent were single men.

"I've been in realty for about 15 years now and the trend has increased throughout the years, almost to the point where it's not a trend, it's a norm," said Alex Chaparro, president of the Chicago Association of Realtors and a real estate broker for Hudson Street Realty in Chicago.

Chaparro said that people are jumping into the buyers market at younger ages, increasing the statistics of single homeowners.

"I think a lot of times we are finding people buying right out of college," Chaparro said. "I've had a lot of scenarios where people get a helping hand from their families to purchase (a home)."

Chaparro said that more people are moving away from renting to buying for investment purposes.

"Renters can own for a very similar cost as what they can rent for. Buying is a better investment for them."

The ease of buying a home today has helped to lure single buyers. Realtors can be in contact with buyers via the Internet and wireless devices at all hours of the day.

Chaparro said he uses his Blackberry to communicate with his clients.

"What has happened is that global information is connected," he said. "The search, the mortgage information and information about the process for buyers and realtors are more connected to give the purchaser the information faster. I can send information from the palm of my hand when I'm at dinner."

Another key component to the increase in single homebuyers is the vast variety of mortgage products now available, including low- or no-down-payment mortgages, which offer buyers more flexibility.

"People are allowed to look at the products that fit their circumstances in life," Chaparro said.

Anxiety and buyer's remorse were feelings that Barry admitted to having while undergoing the purchasing process, but she said, "At my closing I thought the process was not as nearly as hard as it was supposed to be."

Home ownership used to be a long-term proposition, but Chaparro said that today it is more acceptable for people to buy a home and live there for only a couple of years.

Singles seem to be most interested in purchasing condominiums or townhouses that have a good resale value and easy access to transportation and entertainment services, according to Vasanti Bhatt, of RE/MAX Suburban in Schaumburg. They also don't want to be isolated far from the city or in communities where other singles are scarce.

As for the future, Chaparro said that single homeowners will continue to climb.

"I think that this group is here to stay," he said. "I think [singles] have the idea that owning a home is a viable and intelligent choice to make."

Barry said her friends are starting to follow in her footsteps. "I think it is funny because I have friends who are single and there comes a time when they realize that it is time to take the next step in their lives. They can't just wait for a husband who will buy a home for them," she said.

Most of all, the feeling of buying a home brings self-satisfaction, pride and renewed confidence. "Homeownership is social empowerment," Chaparro said.