Bidding wars have become the norm, but the bigger dilemma buyers face is how much higher the asking price will be in that competitive offer situation.

In Marin County, Calif., a recent listing for a 1,305-square-foot home with a single bathroom sparked an intense bidding war. The home was listed at $1.298 million. The real estate pro set a deadline for accepting offers and received 18 bids. The home sold for $2.057 million—58% over asking price, Liz McCarthy, the seller’s agent for the property, told The Mercury News. McCarthy also recently had a listing for a 107-year-old home in a flood zone that fetched nearly 45% over the list price after 147 showings and just seven days on the market.

More home buyers are waiving appraisals to ensure the sale doesn’t fall through, too.

According to a recent housing report from Redfin, half of all homes sold above asking price during four weeks ending on May 16. The median existing-home price for all housing types in April was $341,600—a record high, the National Association of REALTORS® reports.

Eighty-eight percent of the homes sold in April 2021 were on the market for less than a month, NAR’s latest data shows.

Buyer’s agents are growing frustrated with their house hunters who are unable to compete against the frenzy. “All my colleagues and I don’t love this market,” McCarthy told The Mercury News. “The poor buyers—I’m heartbroken for buyers. And it’s not fun writing offer after offer after offer for buyers who are bidding hundreds of thousands of dollars over asking—and getting beat out.”

The average number of offers REALTORS® reported receiving on a closed sale jumped to five in April, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ latest “REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey,” a survey of more than 3,500 real estate pros about their latest transactions.

Real estate pros surveyed feel confident that home prices will continue to climb. On average, they expect home prices over the next three months to increase nearly 6% from a year ago. Here’s a state-to-state breakdown from the REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey of price expectations:

Consumers’ email inboxes are constantly being flooded with messages. How do you make yours stand out? Use effective subject lines that make them take notice.

A recent consumer survey from ActivePipe, an email marketing firm, found the following subject lines generate the most opens on emails that are sent from real estate professionals:

1. “Just Sold in Your Area”
2. “Real Estate Market Snapshot for Your Area”
3. “Have You Been Wondering What Your Home Is Worth?”
4. “List Now or Later—Why the [enter season] Market Pays Dividends”
5. “Six Steps to Get Your Home Ready for a Listing”
6. “Thinking About a Vacation Home?”

The ActivePipe survey found that regular electronic communications via email tends to deliver the highest level of client loyalty. Clients are more likely to open and follow up on electronic communications if there is an existing relationship and some level of trust with the sender before, too.

Once an agent has landed a client, what keeps clients engaged without feeling pressured? The survey found the information with the highest engagement among buyers tended to be current listings and comps. Among sellers, market trends for the area landed at the top, while “recently sold” data interested both buyers and sellers.

After a transaction, consumers say they prefer to be contacted by the agent with monthly emails and newsletters, quarterly phone calls, emails or texts on special occasions, such as birthdays or holidays, and a telephone follow-up after the transaction to verify satisfaction and success, the survey finds.

©National Association of REALTORS®
Reprinted with permission

Major power grid failures and blackout events, such as the one in Texas after a winter storm in February, have more homeowners and builders interested in self-powered properties. As a result, more new construction and retrofitting projects are taking the effects of climate change into account, adding layers of protection to structures beyond energy-efficient considerations like solar panels.

“Houses can be built in much more efficient ways, so not just solar but they can have their own water filters, other sources of electricity generation, and a number of other efficient ways to manage their utilities,” Ben Keys, associate professor of real estate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, told CNBC.

Recent weather events have made the need for resilient homes clear. About 10 million Texans were left without power after the ice storm this year. In fact, blackouts affecting 50,000 or more people have climbed more than 60% in the U.S. since 2015, according to research published in the scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology. Climate change also presents other threats to homeowners as wildfires and flooding events increase. During California’s last wildfire season, more than 10,000 structures were destroyed, causing $10 billion in property damage.

Climate change is increasingly a factor in homebuying decisions, according to a Redfin survey conducted earlier this year. About 75% of respondents say they would be hesitant to buy a home in an area with climate risk. Furthermore, nearly half of those who plan to move say natural disasters and extreme temperatures are factors in their decision, the survey shows. Respondents between the ages of 35 to 44 are most likely to say that natural disasters, extreme temperatures, and rising sea levels play a role in their decisions about where to live. Respondents 45 or older are least likely to say the same.

Dvele, a small California-based builder, is constructing homes in a factory that come with solar, battery, and other elements to use less energy and operate longer off the grid. Such a home continuously monitors its own energy output and can identify ways to save more. If the power goes out, the home can continue to operate like normal.

The homes at highest risk for weather-related catastrophes are in California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska as well as along the Mississippi River and in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal areas, according to CoreLogic’s Catastrophe Report. “It’s not just for extremists,” Keys told CNBC about designing homes to be more self-sufficient. “I think we’re going to see more and more people looking for ways in which they can protect themselves as there are increased risks from storms, more utility disruptions, and more need for resiliency.”

But the costs may get in the way of initial adoption, experts say. Adding this technology, particularly when retrofitting an existing home, can be pricey.

As the economy continues to strengthen, mortgage rates are heading upwards. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage increased from its 2.94% average last week to 3% this week, Freddie Mac reports.

“Mortgage rates are more likely to continue to rise than fall throughout the rest of 2021,” Nadia Evangelou, National Association of REALTORS® senior economist and director of forecasting, writes on the association’s Economists’ Outlook blog. “The economy is growing faster than expected as Americans get vaccinated against COVID-19 and resume traveling, going to restaurants, bars, events, and shows.”

Despite the uptick, mortgage rates remain historically low, averaging 3%, down from 3.24% a year earlier. Home buyers are unlocking greater savings. For example, in 2008, mortgage rates averaged more than 6%. But when a rate is 3% lower than that, as it is this week, it decreases monthly payments by $525 for the typical home buyer, Evangelou says.

However, higher home prices are offsetting those lower rates. Home prices are significantly higher than they were in 2008.

Freddie Mac reports the following national averages with mortgage rates for the week ending May 20:

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3%, with an average 0.6 point, rising from last week’s 2.94% average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.24%.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 2.29%, with an average 0.7 point, increasing from last week’s 2.26% average. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.70%.
• 5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 2.59%, with an average 0.3 point, unchanged from last week’s average. A year ago, 5-year ARMs averaged 3.17%.

Freddie Mac reports average commitment rates along with points to better reflect the total upfront cost of obtaining a mortgage.

Freddie Mac

Home prices have significantly jumped over the past year, forcing home buyers to borrow more to keep up. The average mortgage purchase application reached $411,400, the highest since February, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The average loan for a new home rose to $377,000 last month, a record high.

Home prices are climbing at their fastest pace in more than 15 years. While low mortgage rates are helping to offset some of those higher prices for successful buyers, mortgage rates are predicted to head up soon. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3% this week, up from 2.94% the week prior, according to Freddie Mac.

“We’ve seen very red-hot house-price appreciation across the country—double digits nationally,” says Len Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac. “That puts pressure on loan sizes because, to purchase a home at a higher price, you’re going to need to borrow more money.” Also, more homeowners have been upsizing since the beginning of the pandemic.

But to get these larger mortgages, borrowers will need stellar credit to qualify, Odeta Kushi, deputy chief economist at First American, a title insurance company, told MarketPlace. The median credit score for applicants for new mortgages was 788 in the first quarter of this year, up from 773 a year earlier.

More Americans are now reliant on fast internet as remote work and school and tech-enabled personal connections grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. House hunters even say fast internet and cell service are crucial as they shop for homes, new surveys show.

Where you live may have a stake in just how fast your internet speed is. A new study from HighSpeedInternet.com analyzed and ranked the average internet speeds of the top 100 largest metro areas in the U.S.

The U.S. metro with the fastest average internet speed in the nation: Washington, D.C., according to the study. On the other hand, Charleston, W.Va., has the slowest internet speeds in the country—about four times slower than Washington, D.C.

The nationwide difference between the fastest and slowest metros’ internet speeds is 96.4 Mbps, according to the study.

Researchers identified the following 10 metros as having the fastest internet, based on median download speeds:

1. Washington D.C. (129.1 Mbps)
2. Philadelphia (127.4 Mbps)
3. San Francisco (126.1 Mbps)
4. New York (124.2 Mbps)
5. Boston (123.6 Mbps)
6. Baltimore (120.9 Mbps)
7. San Antonio (119.7 Mbps)
8. Dallas-Fort Worth (117.2 Mbps)
9. Las Vegas (117.1 Mbps)
10. Houston (116.2 Mbps)

On the other hand, the metros with the slowest internet speeds of the top 100 largest metros are:

1. Charleston, W.Va. (32.7 Mbps)
2. Boise, Idaho (56.9 Mbps)
3. Toledo, Ohio (58.2 Mbps)
4. Myrtle Beach, S.C. (59.0 Mbps)
5. Scranton, Pa. (59.0 Mbps)
6. Little Rock, Ark. (60.8 Mbps)
7. Portland, Maine (67.0 Mbps)
8. Lansing, Mich. (68.9 Mbps)
9. Fort Wayne, Ind. (69.1 Mbps)
10. Rochester, N.Y. (69.5 Mbps)

View the complete list of the top 100 metros to see where your area ranks.

The median rent in the 50 largest metros nationwide increased 2.7% year over year, the largest growth since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to a new report from realtor.com®. The nation’s largest tech hubs are seeing some of the biggest rebounds in rental prices as more technology firms announce return-to-the-office plans.

The U.S. median rent in April averaged $1,483, the fastest growth since March 2020. Prior to the pandemic, rents were growing 3.2% annually.

Rents for two-bedroom units are seeing the most growth, now surpassing pre-COVID-19 growth rates—up 5.2% annually, realtor.com® notes.

Rents in the largest tech hubs saw prices fall the most in 2020 due to the growth of remote work. Rents in tech hubs are still down 5.4% from a year ago but that marks an improvement from a 6.6% decline in February, realtor.com® notes.

“In tech centers, rent declines are getting smaller, signaling they are on the path to turnaround,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “If the trend continues, renters could expect to be paying pre-pandemic rates by as early as this fall.”

The median rent in the nation’s largest tech hubs was $2,086 in April, up 1.1% from March. Still, rents continue to be lower in the largest tech centers like San Jose, Calif. (-12.5%); San Francisco (-10.9%); and Seattle (-7.35). But the declines are lessening, researchers note. On the other hand, Denver and Austin, Texas, are leading the rental market recovery among tech hubs. The median rent in Denver is up 2.2% and is up 1.7% in Austin annually.

“Overall, the U.S. rental market is beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels,” says Hale. “With the largest growth occurring outside of major cities, renters are encountering different scenarios depending on the market in which they are searching and size of the unit they are looking for.”