Thirty-one percent of homes in Raleigh were sold above their listing price in December, according to Zillow.
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"I'm seeing numerous sight-unseen offers," said Lynn Furr, of Coldwell Banker Advantage. "That's becoming extremely popular.. I've been doing real estate for over 25 years and I've never seen anything quite like this."
Furr hosted an open house in Raleigh's Renaissance Park subdivision Thursday. Before the $480,000 home even hit the market, there were already offers to buy it.
Jay Averitt and his family put in one of those offers. They live in Renaissance Park and are looking for a bigger home in the neighborhood. Averitt hadn't even stepped foot in the house before placing an offer on it.
With homes selling at a record pace, buyers frustrated with being outbid
"I mean we bid over ask and we still don't know if it's enough," Averitt said. "It's really frustrating because you just have no way of knowing how much to bid. And you know, the listing price doesn't really mean anything. It could go 50,000 over or it could go 20,000. So you just have no way of knowing."
Experts say historically low inventory, low mortgage rates and the ability to work remotely are driving the housing market buying frenzy.
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Real estate broker Kate Kenney, of Coldwell Banker Howard Perry and Walston, said she had an open house in Raleigh that drew a large crowd recently. The $240,000 home got 77 offers.
"I had an agent in my office go handle these and when she got there that Saturday, there was over 100 people lined up to get in," Kenney said. "She laughingly told me she was nothing more than a bouncer at an open house and says she actually had people breaking the line and trying to sneak in the back door of the house. It was insane. I've never seen anything like that in my entire career!"
Kenney said inventory dropped while demand skyrocketed.
Practically everything is getting more expensive in America
"Last year, we started really noticing a big trend with COVID and it getting more extreme," Kenney said. "In this case, right now we've got about, 1,830 houses on our MLS system at any given time. In past years, we would have between eight and 10,000 homes on the market."
Furr said the low-interest rates are contributing to the frenzy.
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"And of course, the Triangle area's always been a very popular part of the country and we have a lot of people coming out," Furr said, adding that people are moving in from California, New York, Florida and all over. "We're just a go-to location."
If you're in the market for a home, you'll need to be patient.
"You have to stay positive as a buyer, and know that if you just hang in there you'll find a house, but it does take a little bit more research and preparedness," Furr said.
Despite their offer, Averitt is not confident he and his family have the house locked in.
"We thought we put a competitive offer in but you know, you just never know what somebody's going to offer, all cash or what somebody is going to offer," Averitt said.