Homebuyers are proving to have some pretty thick skin.

Home prices are still rising, supply is getting leaner, mortgage rates are going up and competition is intense.

Yet despite all the headwinds, buyers seem to be largely resolute.

“Buyer demand is still there and strong,” said Nela Richardson, chief economist at Redfin. “The only thing slowing demand is the lack of things to buy.”

Homes sold 7% faster in March compared to a year ago, according to realtor.com, while prices were 8% higher. At the same time, housing supply was down 8%.

Related: Renting vs. Buying: What can you afford?

And it doesn’t look like the search will be getting easier anytime soon.

“Very strong home prices are due to a real lack of supply … and prices are likely to continue to run well above inflation and income growth all over the country,” said Leonard Kiefer, deputy chief economist at Freddie Mac.

The rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage climbed to 4.47% last week, the highest level since 2014.

“The same $250,000 budget won’t buy what it would have bought you last year,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for realtor.com. “But people are still finding ways to make that $250,000 work.”

Experts predict rates will climb to around 5% by the end of the year. That could be the thing that finally cools off the market and pushes some buyers onto the sidelines, according to Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com.

“There is an important psychological point when you cross 5%,” he said.

But buyers aren’t giving up yet.

Related: Looking to buy your first home? Good luck with that

Chris Gaudreau and his fiancé, moved up their plans to buy a home as they watched prices and interest rates move higher.

“We figured we had to pull the trigger before we get priced out of the market,” Gaudreau, 39, said.

They were looking in the Denver area and set a budget of $400,000, but were really hoping to stay around the $380,000 mark. They started their house hunt in February, and the search was intense.

Their mornings started with reviewing new inventory that hit the market overnight. On good days, there would be 20 new listings. But on other mornings there were no new homes available.

“That was frustrating,” he recalled. He estimated that they looked at more than 70 homes over five weeks. Once they saw nine in a single day.

Their list of “must haves” evolved over their search as they came face-to-face with the reality of what was available.

“It was insane and so much pressure. And if you liked something, you couldn’t go home and sleep on it — you had to put an offer in right away,” he said.

Related: Home sellers are making huge profits. So why aren’t more selling?

The lack of homes on the market is constraining sales as sellers are hesitant to list.

Supply at the starter home level is particularly weak in markets across the country.

“Entry-level buyers are going to have the biggest challenge because that is where inventory declines have continued to decline the most, and that is where the market is most competitive,” said Hale.

Selling the home will likely be easy, but finding a place to move into is another story.

Plus, many current homeowners have likely refinanced to lock in rock-bottom rates, and taking out a new mortgage could mean higher borrowing terms.

Home buyers need to act fast when they find a home. Last year, almost a quarter of all homes sold for more than the asking price, according to a recent report from Zillow.

That’s one reason experts recommend knowing exactly how much you can afford and are comfortable spending on a home. It’s also a good idea to get pre-approved for a loan to make your offer stronger and be ready to move right away.

Gaudreau and his fiancé ended up bidding on eight houses. Their winning offer was for a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half home in Aurora. The home was listed at $360,000 and they offered $370,000. They are set to close this week.

Are you currently looking to buy a house or recently become a homeowner? We want to hear from you. Tell us about your experience and you could be included in a future story

CNNMoney (New York) First published April 25, 2018: 10:13 AM ET

One of the world’s largest diamonds has been sold for $6.5 million.

The stone has been dubbed the “peace diamond” because much of the proceeds will go to help the village in Sierra Leone where it was found. In past decades, the illegal trade in “blood diamonds” was used to help fund the country’s devastating civil war and other African conflicts.

Rather than sell the peace diamond to smugglers, the villagers brought it to the attention of the national government, which arranged for it to be auctioned.

One of the world’s biggest luxury jewelers, Laurence Graff, won the bidding in New York on Monday.

The final price is hardly a paltry sum, but it falls short of what the Sierra Leonean government hoped the 709-carat gem might raise.

In May, the government turned down a bid of $7.8 million at an auction in Sierra Leone, saying it could get “fair market value for Sierra Leone’s diamonds” elsewhere.

The stone is the third largest diamond in the country’s history and the 14th biggest ever discovered worldwide, according to the Rapaport Group, the jewelry organization that helped bring the stone to auction.

In the past, similar sized rough diamonds have sold for almost 10 times as much, said Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77Diamonds.com, an online diamond jeweler. The 813-carat “Constellation” diamond, for instance, fetched $63 million last year.

Related: World’s second biggest diamond sells for $53 million

So why didn’t the peace diamond go for a higher price?

“The top end of the diamond market is not at its height,” Kormind told CNNMoney by email, and the gem may not be as attractive as its sheer size suggests.

“The peace diamond is known to be a very complicated stone,” he said. “Larger rough diamonds don’t necessarily translate into large diamonds when they are cut and polished. It’s all a question of the largest cleanest stone that can be gleaned from the rough. If you can’t yield a single large diamond of very high quality, and instead have to make several stones out of the large stone, that decreases the value enormously.”

Despite the disappointing sum it fetched, the peace diamond is being held up as an example of what can happen if people digging for precious stones sell them through official channels.

Earlier this year, Sierra Leonean President Ernest Koroma said he wanted to “thank the local chief and his people for not smuggling the diamond out of the country.”

Related: Most diamonds in the world are cut here

The diamond, which was discovered in the village of Koryardu in eastern Sierra Leone, represents “our hope for a better future as the resources of Sierra Leone fund growth, development and jobs,” said Pastor Emmanuel Momoh, one of the diggers who discovered the diamond.

More than half the proceeds will go to government funding, including “vital life-saving infrastructure to the diggers and their communities who currently have no clean water, electricity, medical facilities, schools and roads,” Rapaport Group said.

About a quarter of the money will go to the diggers who found the stone, and the remainder will be used for a government program called the Diamond Area Community Development Fund.

CNNMoney (Hong Kong) First published December 5, 2017: 6:13 AM ET

Question: I am tired of paying rent and thinking about buying a home, but I’m worried about the added cost and responsibility. How do I know if I am ready?—Kate

The transition from renter to homebuyer is a big one.

Owning your own home gives you assurance that your monthly housing costs will never go up, (assuming you get a fixed-rate mortgage). Landlords can jack up your rent when you are least expecting it.

But home ownership also comes with added responsibility. When something breaks in your rental unit, it’s a quick call to the landlord to get it fixed. Homeowners are on the hook for both making and financing any repairs.

It’s a big financial leap to becoming a homeowner. Experts recommend asking yourself these questions before you start out house hunt:

Take the time to calculate how much home you can afford to buy.

This isn’t the time to ballpark numbers. Overcommitting to a mortgage payment can leave you house poor, meaning there’s very little money left over at the end of the month for other things.

Add up all your spending, including current rent, food, transportation and discretionary expenses like travel, eating out and entertainment Don’t forget to include debts like student loans and car payments.

Once you know how much you have coming in and going out each month, determine a number you can afford to spend on housing.

Related: 5 ways to afford your first home

Generally, personal finance experts recommend aiming to spend around 28% of your monthly income on housing.

Getting pre-approved for a loan will also help give you a sense of your housing budget. But note that just because a bank agreed to give you a loan, doesn’t mean you have to spend that much.

“In my experience, [lenders] are always trying to get [buyers] to buy a home for more than they can afford or are comfortable with,” said Francine Duke, a certified financial planner in the Chicago area and former mortgage underwriter.

You don’t need a 20% down payment to get a loan. But putting more down can work in your favor. It can help you get better lending rates, beat out the competition in hot housing markets and will lower the amount of interest you pay over the life of a loan.

You can get a mortgage with as little as a 3.5% down, but anything less than 20% means paying private mortgage insurance (PMI), which will increase your monthly payment.

Working to save for a large down payment shows financial responsibility and gets you used to living on a strict budget.

“When you really work to save enough to get 15%-20%, it shows you have a meaningful commitment,” said Bill Van Sant, certified financial planner and senior vice president at Univest Wealth Management.

Your bank account shouldn’t be zero after closing.

You should still have an emergency savings fund that will cover around three to six months of living expenses on hand.

Related: Home prices are on an epic run

In addition to the emergency fund, Van Sant recommends having six to nine months of mortgage expenses available.

“First-time homebuyers are typically looking at older homes because of their lower price point, and they require more work. You need that ‘hanging around’ money, in case the A/C or heater goes.”

You want to get your credit score as high as possible when shopping for a mortgage. The higher the score, the better the lending terms and rates.

A credit score of 750 and up is generally considered excellent and will make you the most attractive borrower.

Your debt-to-income ratio plays a major role in the health of your finances.

You can calculate your debt-to-income ratio by adding up all your monthly debt payments and dividing it by your gross monthly income.

The general rule of thumb is your debt should not exceed 43% of your available credit to take out a mortgage.

Related: Even rising mortgage rates won’t stop homebuyers

If you don’t plan on staying in an area for more than a couple of years, buying a house might not make financial sense.

The huge upfront investment including the price of the home, plus the added costs like taxes, closing costs and escrow fees, might take a while to pay off.

“Make sure you have roots there and will be staying,” said Van Sant. “Some Millennials have no problem not being tied down to an area and jump around the country … buying might not be the best bet if you don’t plan on sticking around.”

CNNMoney (New York) First published April 26, 2018: 10:01 AM ET

There’s good news for travelers who find it a challenge to sleep on planes. For the price of a premium class ticket, you may just get a space that’s comfortable, private, and quiet enough to ensure a good rest.

This year saw the introduction of the first double bed in business class — dubbed the Qsuite by Qatar Airways — as well the unveiling of two revolutionary first-class bed products, with Singapore Airlines’ all-new A380 Suites and Emirates’ fully-enclosed 777 seats.

Here are great airplane beds to look for next time you fly.