The pandemic has hit women harder than men -- you might call it a “she-cession.” To be sure, more women have lost their jobs during this time. Even so, more women are buying houses.

The Redfin brokerage chain says single women purchased 8.7% more homes in the fourth quarter of 2020 than in the same period a year earlier. That’s a larger increase than single men, who purchased 4.6% more homes in the fourth quarter than a year earlier.

Overall, single women accounted for 15.7% of all home purchases nationwide in the fourth quarter of 2020, Redfin reports.

None of this should come as a surprise. LendingTree says single women have long owned more homes than their male counterparts. But while women continue to widen the gap, they are paying a steep price to do so.

According to a recent study from the Yale School of Management, single women pay 2% more than single men for the very same house. And when the time comes to move, they sell for 2% less.

On a $300,000 house, that combined 4% swing equals $12,000 if there is no appreciation. But if their houses rise in value, as many are doing right now, the difference could be much larger.

And when you consider that by LendingTree’s count, unmarried women own nearly 1.6 million more houses than men in the nation’s 50 largest markets -- the company could not find a single one of the top 50 markets where single men own more homes than single women -- that’s a lot of money single women are missing out on.

Indeed, according to the Yale study’s authors, Kelly Shue and Paul Goldsmith-Pinkham, single women are losing about $1,370 per year relative to men because they tend to buy high and sell low. And that, they say, is a conservative estimate.

Shue and Goldsmith-Pinkham, both of whom are finance professors at Yale, base their findings on 9 million transactions throughout the country for which they could identify gender, the initial purchase price and the eventual sales price. The data stretches from 1991 to 2017.

If their research is on target, the amount of dollars women everywhere are losing is staggering. Overall, because Americans invest more in the housing market than in the stock market, the gender gap in housing is responsible for 30% of the gender gap in wealth accumulation at retirement, the authors argue.

The Yale study says the gender gap is “primarily explained” by market timing. But even when both sexes buy and sell in the same ZIP code, during the same month and year, women still net nearly 1% less than men.

Another factor is what happens between purchase and sale. Men tend to invest more in upgrades and maintenance, and they are inclined to invest in riskier properties that normally earn higher returns. Also, men tend to hold their houses longer.

But more importantly, say Shue and Goldsmith-Pinkham, women did not seem to negotiate as successfully as men. The authors discovered that male buyers and female sellers were associated with the largest negotiated discounts relative to list price. At the same time, male sellers and female buyers are associated with the smallest discounts.

The professors caution that they are “not necessarily” implying that women make bargaining mistakes or have lower negotiation skills. Indeed, they point out that previous research has found that women can experience more negative outcomes when they bargain aggressively.

But women search for their homes differently then men. “Women may equal men in negotiation ability,” the professors say, “(but) they care more about purchasing a particular home or derive greater utility from a fast, low-risk or nonconfrontational negotiation process.”

So what can women do to avoid losing money? When buying, they should align themselves with a so-called “buyer broker” -- an agent who works solely on a buyer’s behalf and never, ever works with sellers. These agents will negotiate for you, securing the best deal possible.

Don’t be fooled by agents who say they will act as a buyer broker in your case, but who also represent sellers in other instances. True buyer brokers say you can’t wear two hats, and maintain that it takes an entirely different mindset to represent buyers than sellers.

If you are a seller, look for an agent who is a top producer in your market. There’s a reason some agents consistently sell more houses than others. Beware your Aunt Tina, who just earned her real estate license. Sure, rookies have to start somewhere. But leave that to other clients.

Agents vary in skill and may not perfectly share the interests of their clients, the Yale economists point out. While the gender gap is not driven by women systematically choosing the worst agents, they say, it is possible the same agents offer different advice to men and women, or that the sexes follow the advice -- good or bad -- differently.

Beyond choosing the right agent, make sure you receive a market analysis showing the direction of prices as well as “comps,” which are details about the most recent sales of nearby, similar houses. Try to get a handle on the market before jumping in.

Mortgages guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs were among the most popular last year, as thousands of current and former servicemen and servicewomen used the program to finance their houses. And now, legislation has been signed that expands eligibility for these loans.

Under the new rules, members of the National Guard and Army Reserve who have been activated in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, recent civil disturbances and natural disasters are eligible for the benefits, which include mortgages with nothing down. Previously, they needed at least 90 days of consecutive active-duty service to qualify, or to have been members for six years.

Currently, about 3.5 million veterans and active-duty personnel have VA financing. Under the new law, roughly 37,100 more are now eligible, plus the 26,000 or so who were called to Washington, D.C., after the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol.

Of course, vets and current military personnel must also meet certain government eligibility requirements: See va.gov/housing-assistance/home-loans/eligibility for details. In some instances, surviving spouses of vets also qualify.

Applicants also must meet their lenders’ income and employment criteria. But if they do, they won’t have to spend years accumulating a down payment or building up credit. This eligibility can be used over and over -- again, depending on the rules -- to move up the housing ladder.

Since 1944, when the GI Bill gave soldiers, sailors and airmen returning from World War II a housing benefit, the VA has guaranteed more than 25 million mortgages on their behalf. About 9 out of 10 VA loans are made without a down payment.

Just since the turn of the century, lenders have booked some 9.3 million VA loans. In fiscal 2020 alone, it agreed to back 1.24 million home loans -- a record amount, and more than were guaranteed in fiscal 2018 and 2019 combined. VA loans now account for roughly 10% of the market.

Most of the loans written in fiscal 2020 were for refinancing, as previous borrowers took advantage of record-low interest rates. But plenty of new buyers rushed to do the same.

Despite all this activity, there’s a persistent myth among some realty and lending professionals that VA loans are inferior products that involve tons more paperwork than alternative choices. But that’s just not the case, according to the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, which calls them “an amazing benefit that veterans have earned.”

Chris Birk, vice president of mortgage insight at Veterans United Home Loans, agrees. “It’s not an inferior product at all,” he says. “It’s a remarkable program. Remarkable.”

Birk, who’s also the author of a guide called “The Book on VA Loans,” points to these key statistics from mortgage origination platform Ellie Mae:

The average time it took to close a VA loan last year was 51 days -- just two days longer than a mortgage insured by the Federal Housing Administration, and three days longer than a conventional loan. Also, 78% of all VA loan applicants make it to the closing table, compared to 77% of wannabe FHA borrowers and 79% of those taking conventional financing.

Birk also points out that over the six years Ellie Mae has been tracking VA data, the program has had the lowest average mortgage rate AND the highest closing rate.

Yes, rates on VA-guaranteed loans are often lower. For the first 10 months of 2020, Ellie Mae says the average rate on a VA loan was 3.19%, versus 3.43% for an FHA mortgage and 3.48% for conventional funding. And on top of that, there’s no need for costly mortgage insurance, even with nothing down.

The program works like this: In place of a down payment, the VA guarantees 25% of the mortgage amount. The lender accepts, as your down payment, that promise from the VA that it will to pay if you should fail to do so. That way, there’s no cash out of your pocket, save for closing costs.

Prior to 2020, you could borrow up to $484,350 -- or up to $726,525, in a handful of high-cost areas -- without dipping into your wallet. You could, of course, borrow an amount above those ceilings, but you’d have had to put up $1 of your own money for every $4 above the limit.

But as of last year, the ceiling has been eliminated for most borrowers. Consequently, as long as you have never used your home loan benefit; never had a VA loan, sold the property and repaid the loan; and never paid the VA back after going through a foreclosure or short sale, qualified borrowers could borrow as much as a lender would allow without a down payment.

If you have a remaining entitlement -- that is, you have used some but not all your benefit -- you can use that to purchase a second property. But in that case, the limit comes back into play: The VA will cover up to 25% of the loan limit, minus the amount of entitlement you’ve already used.

This limit also comes into play if you are still paying back a VA loan, paid a previous VA loan in full but still own the house, refinanced out of a VA loan into another type of mortgage and still own the house, or failed to repay the loan in full.

So if you want to move and use your benefit again, simply sell the house, repay the loan and apply for another VA mortgage.

Stephanie Visscher is still in the game. But she is pulling her hair out.

Along with her boyfriend, the Denver public relations counselor has been looking for a house since early January, to no avail. Inventory is so scarce where she wants to live, and competition so stiff, that she hasn’t even had a chance to make an offer.

“It’s definitely been tempting to give up,” Visscher told me. “Everyone says you have to make compromises on your first home, but there’s nothing to compromise on. When I have gone to showings, it’s crazy.”

How crazy? Once, as the couple toured a house, the people next in line to see it knocked on the door to make sure they didn’t go beyond their allotted time. Visscher and her boyfriend went for coffee after the showing, and when they circled back by the place, someone else was peering in the windows, trying to get an early look.

Still, the couple keeps looking, hoping that something will magically appear that they can afford and that has some of the features they desire.

Many others aren’t as optimistic. They’ve thrown in the towel for now, figuring they’ll start looking again when the market loosens up.

In February, Florida agent Robert Goldman of Michael Saunders & Co. listed a house on a Monday, had offers that Tuesday and wrote a contract on Wednesday. One of the offers was from a woman who had already lost out on a couple of other houses, and when she was told she’d lost again, she had had enough. “That’s it!” she screamed. “I’m done with this.”

Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com, calls the phenomenon “buyer fatigue,” noting that those who aren’t up to the scrum “can find the process draining.”

“Imagine getting excited enough to submit an offer on a home -- quickly making what is likely the biggest purchase of your life -- only to lose out to a higher bidder,” Hale told me in an email. “Perseverance pays off,” she said, but added that “aggregate data suggest that some would-be buyers are likely putting their searches on pause so that they can regroup.”

Some buyers are turning to the new-home market, where sales are up nearly 20% from a year ago. But even that sector is not immune from buyer burnout.

Buyers of new-build homes may not be outbid in the way that resale buyers are. But if they decide to think on it, even just overnight, the house and lot they were looking at could be sold to someone else by the time they return the next day. So they just give up.

According to researcher Rose Quint of the National Association of Home Builders, the share of buyers likely to give up until next year (or later) has jumped from 16% to 28% year over year. It’s the fourth time in four years that this percentage has increased, Quint reports.

According to one study, 44% of buyers found themselves in a bidding war last year. Of those, about half won.

Buyers throw in the towel for any number of factors. Maybe they tire of racing out to see the latest listing, only to find it’s in terrible condition or in a less desirable neighborhood. Or perhaps they find the lending process irritating, if not impossible.

But in today’s high-pressure market, where being first with an offer isn’t necessarily the key to getting it accepted, the entire process can sap the energy out of even the most prepared wannabes.

“I’ve seen buyers back out for a variety of reasons -- the stress. The emotions. The feeling of ‘they don’t stand a chance,’” says Ohio agent Donna Deaton of RE/MAX Victory+Affiliates. Deaton says she “stood in the cold and the dark” on a recent Friday night at a new listing, waiting for her turn to take clients through. “We were at least 20 people deep. We wrote an offer for $25,000 over list price and still lost out.”

Economist Hale says that with prices rising like crazy over the last six months, it’s understandable that buyers become frustrated and start “reevaluating their options.”

“Buying a home is a roller-coaster of a journey in the best market circumstances,” she says, and “housing market conditions are especially challenging to buyers right now.”

“Supply and demand are out of control,” says Ohio agent Denton. Florida agent Christopher Carter agrees.

“The frenzy here for real estate is disturbing,” he said. “People just keep looking because for some reason, they feel they have to buy something.”

At last count, the National Association of Realtors put the inventory of unsold houses at a historic low of 2.3 months’ supply nationally -- about a third of the six months’ supply that is considered normal. In Austin, Texas, the inventory sits a mere 0.7 months.

In the new-home sector, meanwhile, builders can’t get shovels in the ground fast enough. Some are sold so far in advance they are purposefully slowing sales.

As Holden Lewis at NerdWallet sees it, the lack of inventory is partially being fed by the fact that sellers often have their choice of multiple, above-asking-price offers.

“Would-be sellers know they would face fierce competition when looking for a home to buy,” wrote Lewis in an email. “Rather than subject themselves to a demoralizing home search, they stay put and keep their homes off the market -- which exacerbates the problem of scant inventory.”