More than 4,500 homes in the Seattle metro area have sold for more than $100,000 over their asking prices this year, and 580 of those fetched more than $300,000 over the asking price, according to a new Redfin report.

This time last year, a mere 362 homes in the area sold for between $100,000 and $300,000 above the asking price, the company noted.

The average home sold this year for $47,878 above the asking price. This time last year, the average amount earned over asking price was just $3,025.

“I’ve never seen anything like this housing market,” Seattle-area Redfin agent Scott Petrich said in a press release. “It’s fueled by employees of local tech companies like Amazon and Microsoft and companies with big offices in the area like Google and Facebook. A lot of them didn’t want to work remotely during the pandemic in small apartments, and that pushed them to seek out large homes with office spaces. Most of those people have the money to compete with other buyers and drive up prices.”

The report added that the median home price skyrocketed 26.1% from a year ago, pushing the average home price up to a record $737,800 in May. The report noted that the percentage might be exaggerated due to a slowdown in sales this time last year, due to the pandemic.

A total of 146 homes in Seattle proper sold for more than $300,000 above the asking price this year, while 88 homes reached the same milestone in Bellevue. That’s compared to eight in Seattle at this time last year and two in Bellevue.

Those cities are followed by Redmond, which had 70 (up from zero), Sammamish at 54 (up from one), Kirkland at 46 (up from 2) and Issaquah at 35 (up from zero).

“I meet a lot of buyers dreaming of living over here because they see big homes listed at unrealistically low prices,” Petrich added. “But the reality is, people can’t get a home for the list price or even slightly over list price. Because buyers almost always have to pay way above the asking price to win a home, they should start their search with homes below their budget and make sure they have money in the bank to cover a low appraisal to make their offer stand out. That may mean compromising by looking at smaller homes or considering a location with a longer commute.”