It has a leaky roof and needs an “extreme renovation,” but the detached house in the sought-after Junction Triangle neighbourhood has gone so viral since being listed on MLS Sunday, realtors have had to do crowd control.

Close to 300 people have called, emailed or walked through the dilapidated house this week, which is listed at $419,900, causing traffic jams on the usually quiet Armstrong Ave. in the Wallace-Emerson area of Toronto’s west end.

The incredible part? The “as is” house with laneway parking for two cars and over 2,600 square feet of space on 2 1/2 floors needs about $200,000 in work.

“I tried not to be insulting in the listing,” says Royal LePage agent Ashley McInnis, whose MLS posting shouts, “Create Your Dream Home! Floor plans attached.”

He decided against posting the usual interior photos on MLS for fear of scaring off buyers. And McInnis uses air quotes to explain the layout of the house: The “living room” has a fireplace jammed behind a double bed. The “dining room” is cluttered with clothes.

“There is almost nothing here to salvage,” he warns buyers, which is why the owners, who’ve rented it out as two apartments for years, insisted he list it well below market value.

Traffic has been so intense — two potential buyers got into a shouting match Friday on the street — that McInnis has hired fellow realtors to be there when he can’t to keep things in check.

Even veteran west-end realtors are surprised by the frenzy of activity the home has created, but say it speaks to much bigger issues that are heating up with the spring market just around the corner.

Toronto Real Estate Board statistics show house sales nosedived 15 per cent in February over a year earlier. But that’s in large part because of a 32.5 decline in sales of luxury homes over $2 million.

All the talk of a housing bubble and a tightening of mortgage lending rules have undoubtedly pushed many first-time and move-up buyers out of the market since last summer. But they seem to have come back big time since Christmas.

Demand is especially fierce for houses under $800,000, especially in the City of Toronto and close to transit, as is the Armstrong house. But there remains a giant disconnect between buyers and sellers, with buyers looking for bargains and sellers holding out for high prices or holding off in hopes that the market picks up.

“Most of what’s being listed is awful and overpriced,” says ReMax agent Mary Nikles. “At least awful and underpriced is somewhat better.”

Part of the problem is that sellers have been staying put almost en masse since 2009 which, in more affordable, up-and-coming areas like the Junction Triangle, has translated into a 50 per cent drop in listings in the last four years, says TREB senior market analyst Jason Mercer.

One Toronto man, a part-time contractor, left his wife behind and flew back from a vacation in Brazil Friday, keen to get into the Armstrong Ave. home before bids are accepted Monday.

He drove directly from Pearson airport after spending days on a beach going over the MLS information, and arrived at the front door with a plan and price — considerably over asking — in mind.

He seemed unfazed by all the cars and the crowd of potential buyers going in and out.

“This house is going to be a gem,” said the 52-year-old man, a part-time renovator for the past 30 years who didn’t want his name used for fear of alerting his full-time boss.

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“There’s only 15,000 houses available across the GTA and in good areas like this, there’s nothing.

“I have listings sent to me every day. My wife thinks I’m crazy, but this is the one that I want.”