Many remote workers have found sections of their home suddenly on display during videoconference calls, which has motivated them to spruce up their nest, a new survey shows.

Seventy-three percent of Americans say they cleaned or tidied up their homes prior to virtual Zoom calls, according to the survey from Cinch Home Services on how the pandemic has changed Americans’ cleaning habits. However, 18% of respondents say they felt some house shame and used a digital background to hide their untidy home.

Those who cleaned their homes say they felt more productive at work after doing so. About 68% of respondents say cleaning increases their feelings of productivity, 65% say it makes them feel more in control, and 58% say it’s motivating.

Many households were motivated to clean and declutter their homes during the pandemic. Sixty-four percent of respondents say they intentionally cut back on purchases to stall clutter. Seventy percent say they’ve going on a cleaning spree since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Cinch Home Services report. Nearly 45% of consumers say their spaces are much cleaner now than they were pre-pandemic.

More than a third of Americans say they have found at least one error in their credit report, according to a new study from Consumer Reports. The publication asked more than 5,800 study participants to get a copy of their credit report and check it for errors between Feb. 1 and April 1. A wide range of mistakes emerged.

For example, 29% of respondents uncovered errors with their personal information, while 11% found mistakes regarding their account information, which could damage their credit score, Syed Ejaz, a Consumer Reports policy analyst, told CNBC. “Unfortunately, folks sometimes find out [about these errors] way too late—when they are in the middle of getting a loan for a new house or car,” Ejaz said. “That is why it is really important to make sure you check your credit report and assess it for accuracy.”

The Consumer Data Industry Association, which represents the major credit reporting companies, has called the Consumer Reports investigation “completely false and misleading.” The CDIA claims the credit reporting industry has a 98% accuracy rate on credit profiles and cautioned against reading into the study’s conclusions because it’s based on a non-empirical survey of consumers.

Still, financial experts recommend that consumers frequently monitor their credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com. Credit reports from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion are usually available for free once a year. However, the three firms are offering free weekly credit reports through April 20, 2022.

Consumers should contact the reporting firms directly if they find any mistakes in their credit report. The Federal Trade Commission provides a sample letter you and your clients can send to credit bureaus to dispute errors.

The big city is starting to look attractive again. More than a year into the pandemic, moves from dense urban cities, like New York, San Francisco, and Boston, have started to slow. These cities lost record numbers of residents in 2020 due to density concerns, closure of entertainment and lifestyle amenities, and high costs of living, according to a new study from Updater, a technology company for the relocation industry. Updater’s report reflects an analysis of 300,000 moves over the past year.

“It’s been fascinating to watch migration patterns shift away from cities and to warmer weather climates during the pandemic,” says David Greenberg, founder and CEO of Updater. “With vaccinations underway, restrictions lifting in some of our hardest-hit cities, and companies rolling out permanent hybrid working solutions, we’re anticipating a summer moving season unlike any other with a series of new atypical patterns.”

In 2020 and into the first quarter of this year, the vast majority of movers had fled densely populated, high-priced areas for more expansive, warmer, and more affordable southern and western states, the Updater study notes.

Homeowners have focused heavily on making the backyard more functional since the pandemic, but it’s important not to forget about style and aesthetics. Interior stylists Shelby Greene and Kate Leyendecker of furniture retailer Living Spaces offer inexpensive touches that can give the backyard a luxury look.

1. Pay attention to details. Curate a corner of the backyard with matching seats, coffee tables, side tables, cushions, and throw pillows. This will create a focal point for the outdoor space and a lounge area where guests can relax and soak up the nice weather. You can also add a little bit of luxe with stylish vases, planters, and trays. These little details don’t cost much and bring a look together to create a functional and relaxing outdoor oasis.

2. Get creative with lighting. One of the easiest ways to elevate the backyard is to incorporate fun and practical lighting. It doesn’t take many lights to transform an outdoor space into a beautiful and vibrant area, especially at night.

3. Set up outdoor “rooms.” Create easily defined areas within the backyard for activities like cooking, eating, and relaxing. The separation of a dining, lounging, grilling, and kids’ play areas will create organization and a natural flow. Creating different “rooms” within the backyard will make it feel like as much of a sanctuary as your actual house.

4. Use exotic “plant furniture.” As Japandi style gains popularity, cane—a plant sourced from parts of Asia—is taking on a larger role in landscape design. Play with an international vibe by pairing cane with other “plant furniture,” such as rattan, to help the backyard feel more like an escape. Remember: Whether you’re working with outdoor chairs, benches, or sofas made of cane, it’s a good idea to layer on seat cushions to contrast textures and colors.

Apartments have shrunk in size over the past decade. But that is changing. Renters during the pandemic craved more space, and the multifamily sector is responding by expanding the square footage by making units about “one small home office larger,” according to a new study.

Thirty-six percent of 92 cities tracked are currently building larger apartments than over the last five years, according to Yardi Matrix data. Most of these multifamily projects are upsizing two-bedroom apartments and adding in a home office, particularly as remote work increases.

New apartments are increasing by nearly 50 square feet, on average. Three-bedroom apartments are getting, on average, about 105 square feet larger.

“The pandemic and work-from-home have made people more conscious of the space in which they live and work,” says Doug Ressler, manager of business intelligence at Yardi Matrix. “The pandemic has significantly accelerated issues on designers’ minds well before 2020. These issues involve the rise of the home as a workspace and a deeper emphasis on health and well-being.”

Developers also are targeting “digital nomads,” those with high incomes who are renting with mobility and lifestyle considerations in mind. “The number of people who earn over $100,000 a year is significantly higher than it was two or three years ago,” Daryl Spradley, senior vice president of Charles Wayne Consulting Inc., told the RENTCafe blog. “Those are renters, but obviously renters by choice because they can go out and buy a house.”

The cities where the largest apartments are being built are Everett, Wash.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; and Athens, Ga., a college town 70 miles from Atlanta. Many smaller cities are building some of the largest apartments. It’s a “residential recalibration” from urban areas to more suburban locales, where residents often can find larger accommodations and have more access to community amenities and outdoor spaces, Craig Jones, president of MBX Rental Living, told RENTCafe.

Lumber prices may soon start to recede from their recent record highs, and some home builders say they may stop taking new orders or delay projects with that expectation in mind.

Prices for lumber have surged more than 200% over the past 12 months. That has added an estimated $36,000 to the price of an average new single-family home, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

But the sky-high prices may soon back off: Lumber futures have posted slightly weaker numbers over the past month. For example, lumber futures for July delivery dropped more than 5% to $1,158 per thousand board feet. That is down more than 30% from a record of $1,711 that was set on May 10, CNBC reported this week.

So even as prices edge down even slightly, they will still be well above historic averages, Kyle Little, a lumber industry veteran, told CNBC.

“We’re in month number 12 of what we believe to be a 24-to-30-month … cyclical bull wave,” Little told CNBC. “We really believe the new three-year mean will be much, much higher—almost two times than what we’ve seen the previous 20 years.” But a pullback—at least somewhat—in lumber is inevitable as higher prices tame demand, he added.

Some builders are instructing their customers, “If it doesn’t need to be done today, it might be better time to take a breather and start this project later in the fourth quarter, possibly in Q1 of 2022,” Little told CNBC.

Buyers who head into the housing market believing they should get a home for less than the listing price may be very disappointed. Instead, they may consider that asking prices have become more like the start of an auction and be ready to start bidding.

For every listing, there is an average of 5.1 offers, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. What’s more, half of homes are being sold above list price.

Additionally, “Due to the low supply of houses for sale, many homes are now being offered in an auction-like atmosphere in which the highest bidder wins the home,” an article at Keeping Current Matters notes.

In actual auctions, many sellers often set a reserve price, which is the minimum amount a seller will accept. In today’s market frenzy, the list price for a house for sale may be more like that reserve price,, the article says. The asking price has become the starting point of the negotiation in many home sales today.

About 40% of potential buyers who were searching for a home this spring say they haven’t bought yet because they keep getting outbid, according to a survey from the National Association of Home Builders.

Knowing they have the upper hand, sellers have come to expect a bidding war for their home. Twenty-four percent of homeowners recently surveyed say they expect to get more than their asking price, and 29% of sellers plan to ask for more than what they think their home is worth, according to a survey of 657 homeowners conducted by realtor.com®.

Some buyers are going to extremes to win a home they want. Real estate pros report individual listings fetching as many as 20 offers—one even got 97 bids—as the homebuying frenzy continues. To win a bidding war, buyers may be willing to waive contingencies and stretch their budgets to the absolute max. Some buyers have even offered $100,000 above asking price, Debbie Barrera, a broker at Realty Austin in Austin, Texas, told The Wall Street Journal. She even had a buyer offer $500,000 above asking price for a home with a pool.