Viral video: Huge crowd shows up to see Raleigh home listed at under $300,000

Prospective buyers showed up again Wednesday to view the house on Lafferty Court, which is listed for $260,000.

Less than 8.5% of homes listed for sale across 16 counties in NC are in the $209K-$288K price range, according to data from Triangle MLS.

More than 80 people came to Tuesday night's open house, and Edwards captured the spectacle on video, saying, "I just want you to take a look at all the people lined up to see this property."

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Edwards says the crowd is evidence of a 'housing crisis' in the Raleigh area. She came to show her client this house – only to have a crush of other home seekers and their agents arrive.

"This is absolutely ridiculous," she said. "We've got to get control over these prices in the housing inventory."

The market is incredibly competitive – with one analysis from Zillow finding that in the last quarter, homes in Raleigh went for 30% or more over list prices. One homeowner told WRAL News that an investor from California purchased a home sight-unseen, seeing no interior photos, for 20% over the asking price. Some realtors said they have fielded offers as high as $1 million over the listing price in the Raleigh market.

The median price for a home in Wake County in January was $434,000.

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Edwards said she shot the video to educate prospective buyers.

Many first-time buyers, she says, are "in disbelief" at the amount of time it takes to find a home they can afford in Wake County.

"And people are so desperate to purchase a home under a particular price point," she said.

Jim Ragland, the listing agent for the house in the video, said the large turnout is proof that lower-priced homes – those under $300,000 – are in "unbelievable demand" in Raleigh.

Thomas Babb of the Triangle MLS says there just aren't enough houses on the market.

"This is definitely a seller's market," he said. "I think a lot of people are, instead of selling, they're re-financing to capitalize on the increase in property values."

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He said he would really encourage people to sell their homes and get more homes into the inventory, so there are more opportunities for people to buy.

Local real estate agents also say supply chain problems have caused delays in the construction of new homes. They just haven't kept up with the demand.

Many realtors said, in response to the viral video, they were not surprised to see such a crowd show up to a house listed for under $300,000.