In some price points, homebuyers faced fierce competition to own a piece of the Cape Fear region.

Realtors and sellers noticed a proliferation of multiple offers in some cases, especially the farther below $350,000 the price fell.

From January through October, the number of homes sold in New Hanover, Pender and northern Brunswick counties had jumped by 17 percent over the same period in 2015, according to Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors’ latest available statistics. A total of 7,412 units sold from January to October, the highest since 2006.

Total dollars were up by nearly the same percentage as units compared to last year, an increase of about $265 million, the data showed.

“We’re doing better in units and total dollars and the median price, but not the average price,” said Don Harris, president of WRAR and a broker with the Keith Beatty Team of Intracoastal Realty. “It’s been a year of recovery, I think, but not without its challenges of smaller inventories.”

Harris said the region had “multiple offers and many houses on the market for only a few days in that under-$350,000 price range.”

November and December statistics were due out after press time, but December is usually a little slower because of the holidays, Harris said.

The area has had a large supply of luxury homes, mainly in the $1 million- and-up category, and Realtors worked this year to close the gap.

A report on November luxury home sales, compiled from N.C. Regional MLS statistics by Just For Buyers Realty, showed better- than-average sales in New Hanover and Pender counties.

“The average number of luxury homes to sell in November over the past 10 years has been 4.4 in New Hanover County. This November, New Hanover recorded six sales,” the report said.

As a whole, though, Brunswick County’s residential real estate market continued to grow somewhat in 2016, according to Brunswick County Association of Realtors statistics.

“Brunswick County’s real estate market remains strong and steady,” said BCAR CEO Cynthia Walsh in a November news release. “Our sales prices and units sold are showing steady growth while inventory is selling faster than last year.”

From January through October, the number of units sold was less than 1 percent more than the number sold during the same period last year, from 3,075 to 3,097, according to BCAR statistics. But the median sales price, considered by Realtors to be a more important indicator, was more than 2 percent higher through October, from $205,000 to $209,500.