Housing prices are rising so fast -- “too fast,” as the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors said recently -- that they are all but obliterating any gains buyers are seeing from record-low interest rates.

Even if rates continue to fall -- and Mark Fleming, chief economist at title insurance company First American, thinks it’s possible they could dip as low as 2% -- house prices are poised to continue rising so quickly that any savings could be minimal, if not wiped out altogether.

Loan rates had remained below 3% for 12 straight weeks as of the end of October, according to mortgage investor Freddie Mac. And as the month came to a close, the average was at 2.81%, nearly 1 full percentage point lower than the same time last year.

But according to Realtor.com’s latest report, median listing prices in September were 12.9% higher than a year ago. For 21 consecutive weeks now, prices have been accelerating, says Chief Economist Danielle Hale, adding that 2020 is way beyond the ordinary.

“During a normal year,” Hale reports, “asking prices begin to dip going into the fall as the types of homes for sale shift and sellers have to do more to attract a buyer from a smaller pool of shoppers. But 2020 is not following this usual seasonal trend, and the typical September asking price remained at $350,000 -- on par with peak summer home prices.”

Brokerage chain Redfin pegs the late-September median selling price in 434 metropolitan areas at $319,769. That’s the highest median cost for homes ever, and a 14% jump from a year ago. It’s also the largest spike in median home sale price since August 2013, the company reports.

And with new listings down 7% and inventory falling by 38%, according to Realtor.com, prices are bound to rise ever higher. Indeed, Veros Real Estate Solutions, a collateral valuation service, anticipates that home-price appreciation will increase sharply during the next 12 months in the 100 most-populated markets.

A look at mortgage rates shows why homebuyers are coming out of the woodwork. In January, the average for a 30-year fixed-rate loan was 3.708%. But by September, it had slipped to 2.75%. That’s not a record low, but it’s still awfully attractive.

Now for the rudimentary math: In January, the median price of an existing house nationally was $268,600, according to NAR. And at 3.708%, the monthly cost for principal and interest was $1,238. But by September, the median had jumped to $316,200. And at 2.75%, the monthly charge was $1,291.

As a result, buyers of median-priced homes paid $53 a month more -- $636 a year -- even though rates had fallen by almost a full percentage point.

Of course, your monthly payment is based on what you borrow, not the price of the house. And the amount you borrow depends on the size of your down payment. The more you put down, the less you need to borrow and the lower your payment. The larger the down payment, the lower the monthly payment.

That said, here’s a little deeper way of looking at the math above:

According to Ellie Mae, whose loan origination technology is used by thousands of lenders, the average 30-year purchase loan amount in January, when the typical mortgage rate was 3.95%, was $262,629. The result was a payment of $1,258.

By September, the rate had fallen to 2.95%. But the average loan was for $292,475, yielding a payment of $1,234. So, because of larger loan amounts as a result of higher prices, the total savings from a full percentage point drop in rates was just $24 a month.

The savings for people who refinanced were a bit larger -- $101 a month for those who didn’t take any cash at closing and $86 for those who did -- again, because in each case, the amount financed was larger. And when all loans, including those with 15-year terms, were lumped together, the savings netted because of lower rates was just $28.

These numbers, says Ellie Mae’s Erica Bigley, are “very generalized” and do not take into account borrowers’ credit profiles or location. And none of the figures used here include mortgage insurance, property taxes and homeowner’s insurance, all of which are likely to be a tad higher because of higher house prices.

They also don’t take into account the “points” that may or may not be paid at closing by borrowers to secure a low mortgage rate. (A point is 1% of the loan amount. So if a borrower paid 1 point on a $262,000 loan, he or she would pay $2,620 in cash at settlement.)

And finally, these are median loan amounts. Borrow more than the median, and whatever savings you enjoy from lower rates are likely to be totally exhausted.

The bottom line: Lower rates have not turned out to be the blessing most people believe them to be. While they have indeed sparked demand, that demand has cut deeply into supply. And the lack of supply has driven up prices.

“If there was an oversupply of houses for sale, the impact of lower rates would be much greater,” Fleming told me. “The market always finds equilibrium.”

“The height of sophistication is simplicity.” -- Clare Boothe Luce

Halloween’s over. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to break out the Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations. Even if your house is on the market, you can still decorate. Just remember to keep it simple.

There’s nothing wrong with trying to sell a house during the holidays. It’s as good a time as any -- maybe even better. Most buyers this time of year are serious prospects -- otherwise, they’d be home celebrating with their families and friends -- and there’s less competition because most sellers wait until the new year to list their properties.

Selling your house shouldn’t keep you from enjoying the festivities, said Florida-based Kathy Streib of Room Service Home Staging, on the ActiveRain real estate website. But decorate with these key staging principles in mind: Don’t distract and don’t detract.

Paul Henderson of Fathom Realty in Tacoma, Washington, has seen some ghastly decorations while touring houses for sale. And just before Halloween, Will Hamm of Hamm Homes in Aurora, Colorado, visited a house that was “so decked out, inside and out,” that Hamm got the feeling the sellers weren’t really interested in selling at all.

Staging is the art of making a house as appealing as possible to a wide audience. And its rules apply to decorating for any holiday, not just Thanksgiving and Christmas, says Streib.

So before you put up your tree and hang your stockings with care, consult with your agent, who needs time to take photos of your place for the multiple listing service and other websites.

You don’t want to post pictures that date your listing if it doesn’t sell by, say, mid-January, and you also don’t want anything in the photos to distract buyers from seeing the house itself.

So don’t overdo it. “Resist the urge to ‘holiday’ every room and flat surface,” says Streib. “You want the buyer to see the space. A few well-placed seasonal decorations can be festive, but not overwhelming.”

It’s not that agents and stagers “are trying to play Grinch,” says Chris Lima of Florida’s Atlantic Shores Realty, but “there has to be a happy medium. Moderation is the key.”

Let’s start with curb appeal: A nice wreath on the front door is good, and large pots filled with seasonal plants add color. A clean, new welcome mat is a good idea, too.

But this is not the time for a giant inflatable Santa or snowman. They are distractions that prevent buyers from seeing what your house really looks like -- and if they deflate, they become serious eyesores.

Amanda Davidson of eXp Realty in Alexandria, Virginia, suggests leaving the inflatables in storage, and warns against trying to light up the neighborhood. Don’t “Griswold” the place, she says, referring to famous over-decorator Clark Griswold of “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” After all, “what might be merry to you can be downright tacky to a buyer.” Stick to minimal string lights, preferably in white, and use them to accent the positive aspects of your exterior.

Inside, you don’t want your house to be awash in orange at Thanksgiving or red at Christmas. You want visitors to see the house itself. “You don’t want your buyer’s eyes to bounce all over, seeing everything but taking in nothing,” Streib advises.

Shannon Jones of Keller Williams in Long Beach, California, is “a big fan of holiday colors, but in everyday objects like flowers or pillows.”

Potential buyers are there to try your house on for size, so don’t block your house’s best features. A giant tree -- tastefully decorated in, say, one color, as opposed to all kinds of mismatched ornaments -- is a great way to emphasize a two-story entry. But if it blocks the fireplace or patio door, it’s doing you a disservice. You don’t want to make visitors peer behind or walk around the tree to see those selling points.

And if you must hang stockings, wait until Christmas Eve so they don’t become distractions.

Now’s also not the time to trot out your oversized Nativity set -- or anything overtly religious, for that matter. Not all buyers celebrate the same holidays, or in the same way, and not everyone has the same religious convictions. So stick to pinecones in a vase and tiny reindeer on the mantle, and bring out that other stuff next year in your new home.

And remember: Less is more. “Over-decorating can mean buyers spend more time studying decorations than observing the features of the house,” say Sally and David Hanson of eXp Realty in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Finally, a word about scents. One of real estate’s oldest rules of thumb is to bake some cookies just before an open house to create a welcoming aroma. That’s still a good idea. But some sellers go too far, overwhelming guests with Vanilla Bean or Spiced Apple.

Some people can be allergic to such scents, or just find them “so overpowering that (they) have to leave to get some fresh air,” says Barbara Altieri of New Haven County (Connecticut) Real Estate.

Streib’s advice: Stick with a scent that says “clean.”

Louisiana agent John Martin once attached a “Not Haunted” placard on a for-sale sign in front of one of his listings. On another occasion, the St. Ignatius Catholic School in Yardley, Pennsylvania, placed an “Open House” sign in front of its cemetery.

You could say, as Consumer Reports did, that the good people at St. Ignatius made a “grave mistake.” But Martin, of Waterman Realty in Metairie, probably knew exactly what he was doing. After all, the New Orleans area is infamous for its superstitions and mystique -- and not just around this time of year.

As it turns out, a lot of people have no desire to live in a haunted manse, no matter where it’s located. In this year’s Halloween-centric poll of 1,500 souls by Clever Real Estate, 4 out of 10 said “no thanks” when asked if they would buy such a place.

“A non-negotiable deal-breaker,” Clever researcher Francesca Ortegren called it. And that’s even though 3 out of 4 respondents believe in the supernatural.

Still, that means 60% are open to sharing a house with specters and spooks -- but not without a concession or two. Most said they would need a deep discount, and many said they would take the plunge only if the apparitions were friendly.

Either way, 4 out of 5 buyers told Clever’s researchers that a haunting would impact their buying decision, one way or another. Yet, if they were selling instead of buying, less than half would disclose the presence of wraiths unless required by law to do so. And 1 in 10 would not disclose even then.

And therein lies the rub. Disclosure laws vary from state to state. Only nine states have some requirements: Five states require disclosures of a death on the property, and four require disclosures of any paranormal activity if it impacts the physical condition or the value of the property.

Alaska and Wisconsin require disclosure of a burial site on the property. Five other states require such a disclosure, but only if the seller or the agent is asked directly.

According to Ortegren, New York has the “most infamous” law. Known locally as the “Ghostbusters Ruling,” the state Supreme Court ruled in 1991 that if a house is haunted, information about paranormal activities must be provided in all future listings.

“The case sets legal precedent in the state, requiring disclosure of hauntings if the home was declared haunted publicly,” Ortegren said.

The rest of the states have no rules compelling sellers to disclose hauntings, specifically, or to reveal anything that might “psychologically stigmatize” a property more generally.

For what it’s worth, 1 in 4 respondents said they have lived in a haunted house, and only a third of them knew it was haunted before moving in.

Nobody knows how many houses around the country are inhabited by poltergeists. The Census Bureau doesn’t keep count. It can tell you the number of places where trick-or-treaters have to climb steps to fill their sacks (57.4 million) and the number of costume rental establishments (892), but not the number of haunted houses.

There are almost 1.6 million so-called “zombie houses” -- industry jargon for vacant homes -- in the United States, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. And 216,000 of them are in the process of foreclosure, making them ideal spots for spooks to set up housekeeping -- and to haunt their new owners when the houses are eventually sold. New York has the highest number of zombie foreclosures, followed by Florida and Illinois.

There are some scary places in other states, too. Tombstone, Arizona, floats readily to mind. But how about Yellville, Arkansas; Transylvania County, North Carolina; Slaughter Beach, Delaware; or Scarville, Iowa?

And speaking of scary, what frightens homebuyers more than ghosts? Clever asked that question, too. Mold was the top worry, followed by foundation issues, termites, asbestos and a leaky roof. In total, 93% of the respondents were more worried about repair issues than goblins.

How will you know if your place is inhabited by more than the living? Perhaps unexplained noises, like footsteps in the night, will be the tip-off. Or chairs moved without your knowledge. Lights flickering on and off. Objects levitating. Your dog acting strangely -- say, barking at nothing, or at least nothing you can see. Or just an eerie feeling.

Any of these are telltale signs, and 1 in 4 people told Clever they’d move out immediately if they discovered they weren’t alone. The rest would stay, but would try to rid their homes of the unwanted guests. A third of those would try to cleanse their places by “smudging,” a spiritual rite aimed at clearing out -- or blessing -- apparitions. About 25% would hold an exorcism, and 1 in 4 would hold a seance in an effort to make contact with their ghosts. Some would salt their entryways; others would simply remodel in hopes of driving them away.

But 17% would take an entirely different approach: Rather than try to make the ghosts move out, they would make their homes more hospitable -- the better to ensure their “roommates” remain friendly.