WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – Students from Cape Fear Community College have spent a year building a three-bedroom house from scratch.

The 1,008 square-foot home is currently located at the college’s North Campus. It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, kitchen, laundry room and a 144 square-foot front porch.

According to a press release from the college, the exterior is made of solid cedar planking and has been built to comply with 130 mph wind-zone standards.

Lead carpentry instructor David Cameron said this type of project is “literally the foundation of the program, which gives students the fundamentals of residential construction.”

The home will be auctioned off in the next few weeks, and the proceeds from the auction will go back into the program for next year to help cover costs of the next project.

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WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) - Potential homeowners spent the weekend exploring their options at the 26th annual Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association Parade of Homes.

Several area builders showed off their model homes so people could see all the features and amenities they could have in a new home. Braxton Fussell works for Stevens Fine Homes.

He said the majority of the people he's seen are buying a home for the first time. He said even though the real estate market hasn't done too well over the past few years, things are starting to pick back up.

"What we've seen are a lot of folks thinking real estate has hit the bottom and it's as low as it's going to go," he said.  "It's already started to creep back up pretty quickly and people can afford a lot more than what they could two, three, four even five years ago."