Like other parts of the Cape Fear region, Kure Beach has been the scene of a noticeable increase in residential building in recent months.

“If you drive around, there's a lot of construction,” said Mark Batson, owner of Tongue & Groove, a local custom home building company. “Over the last 12 months, a lot of people are doing second homes there with a variety of budgets.”

One of the town's new, completed residences is a 3,000-square-foot luxury home built by Batson's company for Debbie Leonard, former women's basketball head coach at Duke University. Valued at $925,000, the three-bedroom house is part of the 29th annual Parade of Homes, which continues this weekend.

Hosted by the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association, a 50-year-old organization with at least 900 member firms, the Parade of Homes features tours of 75 homes and townhomes in New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties. The event's awards banquet will be held tonight, while Parade homes will be open for tours noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

The home built by Batson's company is the second most expensive on the tour, next to a $2.68 million Porters Neck house by Logan Homes. The prices of other homes in the Parade tours range from $200,000 to more than $700,000.