Rising wages and falling mortgage rates are helping keep homeownership within reach of average wage earners nationwide despite surges in housing prices.

Nationally, home prices increased by an average of 10.4% over the previous year, representing the largest year-over-year gain since April 2006.

Redfin homes on the market in Seattle faced bidding wars in January at a rate of 73.8%, up from 66.5% in December 2020.

“In the final months of 2020, single-family rents posted the highest increases in over four years,” said Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic. “However, single-family rent price reaction to the pandemic and resulting recession differed greatly across metros.”

The report added that vacation homes and affordable homes in small towns near major urban centers were in strong demand as a result of the pandemic.