Brunswick County’s most populated beach town is also the most affordable, home sale statistics show.
 
Oak Island was the most affordable and active of eight popular beach communities in the Cape Fear region in June, with 70 homes sold at a median price of $267,500, according to an analysis of N.C. Multiple Listing Service data by Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage.
 
The analysis looked at the closed residential sales volume for the month of June compared to last June in New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender and Onslow counties. Oak Island’s median sales price was below the record-setting national median price of $276,900 for all housing types shared in July in the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Existing Home Sales report for June, the study showed.
 
“Oak Island set the standard for beach affordability while neighboring Brunswick County communities Sunset Beach, Ocean Isle Beach and Holden Beach all had June median prices in the $400,000s.” the release said.
 
“We have quite a few buyers from Charlotte, Raleigh, Cary and Greensboro purchasing second homes and, of course, continued interest from Northeasterners,” said Carol Averitte, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage’s office in Oak Island.
 
The release stated that New Hanover County’s Carolina Beach saw a lack of inventory lead to quick sales and a dramatic decrease in June sales. According to the release, 41 homes sold in Carolina Beach in June, down almost 36 percent from a year ago, in just 67 days, which was half of last June’s time on market.
 
“The seller’s market saw prices increase year-over-year by 3.8 percent to $305,000. Neighboring Kure Beach, in contrast, saw June home sales jump to 19, an increase of more than 216 percent from June 2017, while days on market rose 18 percent to 101 and median prices decreased 11.7 percent to $425,000,” the release stated.
 
Wrightsville Beach is the most expensive by far of the area’s beach communities, according to the analysis, which showed sellers waiting almost 200 days to close while the 14 homes sold in June had a median price of $894,999.
 
“We have had 37 homes over $1 million sell in Wrightsville Beach over the last year. But you can still find small 500-square-foot original cottages mixed in with our incredibly beautiful homes,” Sherri Pickard, managing broker of the Autumn Hall office of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage, said in the release.