U.S. home prices in the third quarter were at the least affordable level since the third quarter of 2008—a 10-year low, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q3 2018 U.S. Home Affordability Report. Researchers calculate affordability based on the percentage of income needed to purchase a median-priced home compared to an area’s historic averages.

Seventy-eight percent of the 440 U.S. counties analyzed had homes that were less affordable than the long-term affordability averages for the county.

Blame the drop in housing affordability on rising mortgage rates, economists say. “Rising mortgage rates have pushed home prices to the least affordable level we’ve seen in 10 years, both nationally and at the local level,” says Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions.

Nearly one-third of the U.S. population now lives in counties where buying a median-priced home requires at least $100,000 in annual income, according to the report. “U.S. Census net migration data shows negative net migration in more than two-thirds of those highest-priced markets, while more than three-quarters of the markets requiring annual income less than $100,000 to buy a home posted positive net migration, indicating that home affordability is at least one factor driving recent migration patterns,” Blomquist says.

Some of the counties that are the least affordable to their relative long-term affordability averages, according to the report, are Denver County, Colo.; Arapahoe County, Colo. (Denver area); Tarrant County, Texas (Dallas-Fort Worth metro area); Kent County, Mich. (Grand Rapids area); and Jefferson County, Colo. (Denver area).

Home prices are rising faster than wages in most markets. The median home price of $250,000 in the third quarter was up 6 percent from a year ago and double the annual growth of the 3 percent in average wages, according to ATTOM Data Solutions’ report.

The counties where prospective home buyers need to earn some of the most in the country to afford a median-priced home are led by five California Bay Area counties: San Mateo ($377,210 annual income needed to purchase a median-priced home); San Francisco ($366,582); Santa Clara ($327,284); Marin ($311,827); and Alameda ($237,760). Other counties outside of California where buyers need some of the most earnings are Westchester, N.Y. ($228,937) and Kings County (Brooklyn), N.Y. ($221,993).

Many homeowners say they plan to use the proceeds from the sale of their current home to fund the down payment of their next home. And as they look at rising costs, some are holding off selling their home longer hoping that prices will continue to rise and they’ll be able to sell their home for an even higher price, according to a new consumer housing sentiment study from CoreLogic and RTi Research.

Sixty-six percent of homeowners who are considering buying in the next 10 years say they’ll need to sell their current home to finance their next one. Thirty-five percent of recent home buyers said they used funds from the sale of their previous home to finance the down payment of their current home.

“In some markets, home buyers and sellers are remaining cautious and taking a pause as price appreciation continues to rise,” says Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. “By waiting to sell, homeowners believe they will get the greatest return on their investment; the more money they have for a down payment, the easier the purchase payments will be for their next home.”

CoreLogic reported through its Home Price Index that home prices rose nationally by 5.5 percent year over year in August, and prices are projected to increase by another 4.7 percent by August 2019.

Higher rent costs are prompting some tenants to take part in rent strikes, which are often seen as renters’ last option to not get priced out. During a rent strike, tenants withhold their rent checks in an attempt to pressure landlords to negotiate rents and typically to improve building maintenance, too.

The move forces landlords to comply or take each of the tenants who are striking to eviction court individually to argue their case. That move can prove costly. But rent strikes can also be risky for tenants, who may be gambling on being evicted or becoming homeless by not paying their rents.

“A rent strike with one person isn’t going to change anything,” Trinidad Ruiz, an organizer with the Vermont Beverly local chapter of the Los Angeles Tenants Union, told LAist.com. “You need an entire complex to do the rent strike.”

Several buildings in the Los Angeles area have reportedly had tenants turn to this strategy. In one community within Boyle Heights, tenants reached an agreement with their landlord earlier this year following a months-long rent strike.

But not all cases of rent strikes are successful; some could end up with tenants evicted.

Advocates say tenants are banding together because they feel like they have no other choice in being priced out. “When you’re in a no-win situation, you fight,” Ruiz says. “They aren’t able to pay the rent, so they’ll end up on the street. If they lose the rent hike, they’ll end up on the street. Only if they win the rent strike, then there’s a chance they’ll stay.”

Some tenants are using the decline in the condition of their apartments to fight against rental hikes. In California, a law says renters are allowed to withhold their monthly rent checks if landlords fail to maintain a property, like addressing mold, insect infestations, or other issues.

“The rent increase is legal, but [the landlord] also has to maintain the apartments,” Elena Popp, a lawyer with the nonprofit Eviction Defense Network, told LAist.com. “The lack of maintenance gave the tenants the opening to do a rent strike.”

Some landlords argue, however, that the rent increase is to cover the rising maintenance costs.

Tenants may need to brace for more rent hikes ahead. Many landlords say they plan to raise rents even more over the next few months.

The frenzy of the summer real estate market has cooled by the seemingly very same breeze sweeping leaves off the trees across much of the country. But now may be a better time than ever for your buyer clients to do their house hunting.

According to RealtyTrac and realtor.com®, October is the best time to snag a deal on a house. RealtyTrac analyzed more than 32 million sales of single-family homes and condos between 2000 and 2015, finding that those who purchased in October paid 2.6 percent below the average estimated full market value for their property. Oct. 8, specifically, seems to offer the best deals for buyers with an average 10.8 percent discount.

If your buyers need more reason to start or continue their home search this fall, here are five additional reasons to shop for a home now from Lindsay Szwed, an agent with RE/MAX Suburban in the Chicago area.

1. Less focus on landscaping. While the spring and summer bring green grass and plant life, fall may actually allow buyers to concentrate on the condition of a home’s exterior better, Szwed says. “Viewing houses in the fall, you can spot exterior flaws and even landscaping problems, setting you up to deal with these issues before you buy the house.”

2. The pressure is off. Less competition from other buyers who are pressed by deadlines, such as the start of the school year, means a stress-free pace for your clients.

3. Agents have more time. Since you’re likely juggling fewer buyer clients, those who are home shopping will get more of your undivided attention, Szwed says.

4. Better deals. Those who are selling in the fall likely have personal deadlines they’d like to meet, such as relocating for a job. Sometimes, sellers are more willing to lower their asking price than they would be during the summer months, she notes.

5. Fewer bidding wars. By taking advantage of the seasonal hiatus by other buyers, there’s less chance that your clients will be outbid by someone else.

Low rental vacancies nationwide, coupled with continued strong demand for single-family rental properties, could prompt landlords to increase rents even more. But housing analysts caution that further rent hikes could overburden tenants, many of whom already are struggling to stay afloat financially as housing costs rise.

The nation’s largest landlords of single-family rentals, Invitation Homes and Tricon American Homes, say their occupancy rates have remained above 95 percent for the past three years. “Rent growth rates continue to be solid in most of the major markets across the country—in the middle to upper single digits,” Daren Blomquist, senior vice president at ATTOM Data Solutions, told the National Real Estate Investor. The firm’s data show that rents for three-bedroom units have climbed by 7 percent in markets such as Los Angeles and by 5 percent in Philadelphia in the 12 months that ended in the first quarter of 2018.

But landlords must not raise rents too quickly, housing analysts caution. Nearly 30 million U.S. renter households—or roughly half—already spend more than 30 percent of their income on rent, according to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies. Most financial experts define that as “cost-burdened.”

With tight inventory putting upward pressure on home prices over the last few years, some economists have been calling on single-family landlords to cash out on their equity and put their properties on the market to feed lower price points starving for more listings. But many of these landlords say they have no intention of a sell-off anytime soon. Invitation Homes, for example, owns about 80,000 homes in 17 major markets, and company officials told CNBC that they see plenty of profit in the rental business. “U.S. housing is one of the most liquid classes in the world, and it’s a very easy thing for us on the margin to be buying and selling with our portfolio today,” Dallas Tanner, chief investment officer for Invitation Homes, told CNBC.

The single-family rental market is very healthy right now, says John Pawlowski, an analyst at Green Street Advisors. “The demand versus supply balance, and the operating outlook for revenue growth over these coming years, is more favorable versus most property types,” Pawlowski says.