The number of single family homes sold in Brunswick County jumped more than 25 percent in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year, according to a news release Monday.

"Retirees and second home buyers who want to live near the coast or want to have a vacation destination closer to the coast are the majority of our buyers," said Monroe Enzor, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage who works in southern parts of Brunswick. "We do have a mix of younger families and people relocating also."
 
At the same time, the total for Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen counties showed a 20.1 percent increase from 2014 in the number of single family units sold in the first three months of this year, the release from the Brunswick County Association of Realtors said.
 
“These numbers reinforce the fact that the real estate market in Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen counties is trending in the right direction,” said Steve Candler, CEO of the BCAR. “Brunswick County has consistently ranked among the fastest growing counties in the state, and we expect this trend to continue.”

In terms of home sales, although many of Brunswick County's percentages outpaced those of the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors MLS, the Wilmington area had a larger inventory, with 2,855 new listings in the first quarter compared to Brunswick's 394 (not counting Columbus' and Bladen's new listings).

Earlier this month, the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors reported a 12.6 percent increase in units sold during the first quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year, according to Wilmington MLS data. WRAR also reported a 6.87 percent increase in the average sales price over last year. The WRAR statistics cover New Hanover, northern Brunswick and Pender counties.

As sales and average prices rise in Brunswick County, so do new roofs: so many that the Brunswick County Economic Development Commission is working with the county’s building inspections department to map where new residential construction is occurring, according to a post on the commission’s Facebook page. “This, along with the traffic counts that will be undertaken this summer and the up-to-date demographic information we compile, will help us recruit more retail to Brunswick County,” the post says.  
 
 

Brunswick County MLS single family statistics, Jan.-March

New listings	Q1 2015: 394	Q1 2014: 362	Change: 8.9%
Units sold	168	134	25.4%
Average sale price	$248,681	$212,232	17.2%
Total sales volume	$124,937,022	$85,763,277	45.7%