Mortgage rates at all-time lows have helped drive U.S. home sales to a 14-year high. Existing homeowners also are rushing to take advantage, prompting a 200% annual increase in refinancing. Mortgage lenders have faced a hectic business during the pandemic as many systems were quickly forced to go remote.

“It’s been a complicated year for the mortgage industry,” says Jim Houston, managing director of consumer lending and automotive finance intelligence at J.D. Power. “Between surging customer volumes on the origination side, an influx of customer inquiries on the servicing side, and a workforce that has been completely displaced by the pandemic, resources have been stretched to their limits. That strain is showing up in slower loan processing times, missed opportunities to communicate, and unreliable self-service tools.”

Houston said that while some of these “shortcomings” may have been viewed as opportunities in prior years, current market conditions and customer satisfaction metrics indicate that “mortgage originators need to look hard at fixing them if they want to stay viable.”

Still, customer satisfaction with primary mortgage originators rose 6 points this year, which was largely driven by competitiveness over offered interest rates, according to J.D. Power’s newly released 2020 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Study. The average refinancing processing time rose to 42 days from application to closing (up from 39 days in 2019). J.D. Power also found a notable increase in the number of customers using self-service channels for loan applications and approvals.

Lender satisfaction seemed to be directly linked to frequency of communication from the lender, according to J.D. Power. The more lenders communicate with customers during the application, closing, and onboarding processes, the more customer satisfaction improved, they found.

Overall, Rocket Mortgage by Quicken Loans ranked the highest in mortgage origination satisfaction for the 11th consecutive year, followed by Bank of America and Chase (which tied for second), according to J.D. Power.

The 2020 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study measures overall customer satisfaction from 4,300 customer responses based on the following four metrics: application/approval process, communication, loan closing, and loan offerings.

Monday’s announcement of promising COVID-19 vaccine test results prompted investors to get bullish on several real estate stocks, notably within sectors of the market that have faltered during the pandemic. The Wall Street Journal reported as part of Monday’s vaccine news: “The share prices of some of the country’s biggest property owners were up more than 20% Monday compared with a roughly 3% increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.”

Office owners have faced high vacancy rates during the pandemic. Hotel and retail owners also have been among the hardest-hit real estate sectors during the pandemic as consumers avoid public venues. But after news broke of the positive vaccine results from BioNTech SE and Pfizer Inc., hotels and retailers saw an increase in the stock market.

Among the winners on Monday: Shares of Host Hotels & Resorts Inc., one of the nation’s largest hotel owners, jumped 30%. Simon Property Group, one of the country’s largest mall owners, saw shares increase 28%. SL Green Realty Corp., Manhattan’s largest office owner, posted a 37% increase, WSJ reports.

“Real estate was a COVID loser,” Michael Knott, head of U.S. REIT research at Green Street, told WSJ. “Many of the business models are based on assembly of people. And now with the potential vaccine, it’s like Doc Brown [from ‘Back to the Future’] figured out how to get his time machine to work.”

Pfizer reported on Monday that its early data suggested its vaccine under development might be 90% effective in preventing COVID-19.

“This offers a ray of hope that the market did not hesitate to take advantage of,” Tai Hui of J.P. Morgan Asset Management said in a report.

The rates for jumbo and FHA loans dropped to all-time lows last week. Jumbo loans are for borrowers taking out larger loans while FHA loans offer borrowers’ low-down-payment loans. Their new lows fueled mortgage demand last week, the Mortgage Bankers Association reports.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with jumbo loan balances (greater than $510,400) dropped to 3.18% last week. The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages backed by the FHA fell to 3.08%. The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage also saw new lows last week, decreasing to an average contract rate of 2.55%, MBA reports.

“The drop in rates spurred an uptick in demand for refinances,” says Joel Kan, MBA’s chief economist.

Refinances overall increased 6% last week and are now up 88% compared to a year ago. The drive was essentially all driven by those “seeking conventionally and government loans,” Kan says.

On the other hand, mortgage applications to purchase a home dropped 1% last week. Applications are still more than 25% higher than a year ago.

“After a solid stretch of purchase applications growth, activity decreased for the fifth time in six weeks, but has increased year-over-year for six straight months,” says Kan. “2020 continues to overall be a strong year for the housing market.”

With low housing inventories and high buyer demand, home sellers are expected to continue to command higher home prices this winter—an unseasonable trend in the housing market.

“Sellers will have the ball in their court, so to speak, as there are more buyers than sellers,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com®’s chief economist. “This means seller-friendly trends like rising home prices and quick-selling homes.”

In September, home inventory was 39% lower compared to a year ago. But buyers are out in force trying to lock in record-low mortgage rates to help them save on financing costs. Seventy-one percent of homes sold in September were on the market for less than a month, according to NAR data. Properties typically stayed on the market for just 21 days in September—an all-time low. That is down from 32 days a year ago. The median existing-home price for all housing types sold in September was $311,800, a 14.8% increase compared to a year ago.

Indeed, home prices are on the rise. The national median home listing price climbed 11.1% in September compared to a year ago. It’s now at $350,000. Price per square foot has increased 13.9%, realtor.com® data shows.

“Prices are high,” Simon Isaacs, broker-owner of Simon Isaacs Real Estate in Palm Beach, Fla., told realtor.com®. “People are getting what they’re asking.”

Move-in-ready homes tend to be most in demand, real estate professionals say. Homes that don’t require repairs, as well as homes that show off in-demand amenities—such as extra space, outdoor areas, privacy, and rooms that can double as home offices or learning areas—likely will sell the fastest, real estate pros say. Homes for sale that offer virtual tours, which buyers can peruse from the safety of their own homes, have also grown in appeal during the pandemic.

Home sellers need to be ready for possible multiple offers for their home. Real estate pros are suggesting to their sellers that they don’t rush to accept offers too quickly. Sellers usually have 24 to 48 hours to accept an offer.

“Literally eight hours of sleep could net you an extra $30,000,” Matt Curtis, owner of Matt Curtis Real Estate in Huntsville, Ala., told realtor.com®.

Watch your TV placement when staging a home. Real estate professionals faced with the issue are divided over where in the living room a TV should go—or even whether it belongs there at all.

Hayley Westoff, a Compass real estate professional, told Apartment Therapy that if the TV setup feels wrong, buyers could be turned off by the space. After all, buyers want to visualize themselves living inside a home, and watching TV is a big part of many people’s lives.

On the other hand, Allison Chiaramonte, a Warburg Realty agent in New York, doesn’t see the presence of a TV as a critical matter when staging a space. A TV shouldn’t be the focus, she says.

“While some think keeping a television in the living room at an open house is crucial, others say it takes away from the taste of the home,” Antonia DeBianchi writes on Apartment Therapy. “It’s a problem that sellers don’t seem to talk about, and its solution isn’t the clearest, either.”

When a room is awkwardly laid out, it could add to the challenges. For example, above a fireplace is a common spot for TVs, but if a mantle is too high or the fireplace is on the diagonal, its placement could feel unrealistic or awkward.

“Rearranging the furniture, and putting either a TV or mirror where the TV would go … really helps the buyer visualize what that setup would look like,” Westoff told Apartment Therapy.

Also, if the TV is outdated, many real estate pros suggest removing it. “If you have a really old, thick, crazy TV, it definitely makes people wonder why it’s not upgraded and wonder what else in the house might not be upgraded,” Chiaramonte told Apartment Therapy.

The best compromise: Have the TV blend in. If it’s mounted in a cabinet, close the cabinet if you can. If sellers have a giant TV, try to tone it down by tuning it to soundless images showing nature or peaceful scenery so it shows more as art.

Mortgage rates hit record lows in 2020, but how will the outcome of this year’s election impact rates? A replay of the post-election increase in 2016 could happen, mortgage experts say.

In 2016, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage went from 3.47% in October to 4.2% in December.

However, once the results of this year’s election are final, we may not see the same results. The Mortgage Reports highlights how previous presidential elections have affected mortgage rates—positively, negatively, or even not at all. For example, after the 2012 and 2004 elections, in which the incumbent was reelected, rates essentially stayed the same; during 2008’s campaigns, rates reached 6.2% in October, then fell to 5.29% in December.

Mortgage rates rise and fall with the financial markets. “Lending up to the 2020 election cycle, interest rates are remarkably low,” The Mortgage Reports says.

Most economists—regardless of the presidential election’s outcome—have predicted that mortgage rates in 2021 will hover around historic lows of 3%.

The Mortgage Reports shows scenarios where either candidate’s election could prompt rates to go down or up. The president does not control mortgage rates, but the outcome and the direction of their policies could impact them, The Mortgage Reports says.

The Federal Reserve, an independent institution, has cut the federal funds rate to nearly zero. Mortgage rates don’t follow the Fed’s funds rate, but that low-rate environment has helped to influence mortgage rates.

“No matter who is elected, no one expects the Fed to raise rates any time soon,” The Mortgage Reports says. “The coronavirus presents too big a risk to the economy to do that.”

Rising lumber prices have been pushing up the cost of new homes, but relief could be on the way, according to a new report from Zonda, the research firm formerly known as Meyers Research.

Lumber futures are showing signs of falling, say builders recently surveyed by Zonda. That suggests prices could moderate in the coming months. So far, the impact of falling prices hasn’t been evident. Fifty-six percent of builders say they have not seen prices cool yet on lumber, but they acknowledged that there can be a lag of a month or two.

Ninety percent of builders reported raising their base prices in mid-October compared to mid-September. Fifty-seven percent of builders reported raising prices by $3,000 and $5,000.

The National Association of Home Builders has said that record-high lumber prices have driven up new-home prices over recent months. The recent spikes have added more than $16,000 to the typical cost of a new single-family home since April, the NAHB says.

As prices rise quickly in the new-home sector, appraisals are becoming a bigger issue, according to the report released by Ali Wolf, Zonda’s chief economist. Forty-two percent of builders in October said their new homes are not achieving high enough appraisal values. That is a considerably higher percentage of builders reporting low appraisals in October compared with September, when just 28% of builders reported low appraisals.

Overall, however, the biggest concerns for builders heading into 2021 likely will be lot shortages, land prices, new-home affordability, the aftermath of the election, and building material costs.

“We should expect to continue seeing an elongated time from start to completion of new homes going into 2021,” Wolf says in the report. Fifty-seven percent of builders foresee supply disruptions and 29% predict labor shortages will continue to press on timelines.