The homestead of every person is exempt from judicial sale where there is no special declaration of statute to the contrary. Persons who reside together as a single household unit are entitled to claim in the aggregate only one homestead to be exempt from judicial sale. A single person may claim only one homestead to be exempt from judicial sale. For purposes of this section , “household unit” means all persons of whatever ages, whether or not related, who habitually reside together in the same household as a group. [C51, §1245; R60, §2277; C73, §1988; C97, §2972, 2973; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 10150; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §561.16 ; 81 Acts, ch 182, §1 ] 87 Acts, ch 116, §3 Referred to in §64.15 , 64.15A , 809A.4