A Hampstead-based residential real estate firm is expanding by opening an office in the growing Pender County coastal town of Surf City.

Coastal Realty Associates, started in 2013, has leased space that includes six offices at 204 Roland Ave. in Surf City on Topsail Island, not far from the ocean, said Andrew Smith, broker in charge and owner.

The agency recently moved into its new space, known locally as the former Bank of America building, and opened this week. Its broker in charge is Garrett Cox.

Smith said Coastal Realty Associates’ natural progression has been to expand northward in Pender County, where the company is a top seller.

“It’s always been a focus of ours for the last couple of years to get onto the island,” Smith said. “We continuously keep going north because we're trying to stay ahead of the growth. Surf City is already growing at an exponential rate, especially since the new bridge was put in.”

He said the Surf City office is equipped with beach cruisers and surf boards and aims to highlight the beach town experience.

“At the end of the day what we as agents and just agents in general are doing out there is trying to sell people on coastal North Carolina,” Smith said. “It’s a lot easier to sell someone on the idea and the lifestyle that we all live and enjoy here when you have a position at the beach on the second row."

The firm has 50 employees and its Hampstead office is at 17117 U.S. 17.

One of the things that makes Coastal Realty Associates unique "is that most of the folks who work here live in the greater Hampstead-Holly Ridge area," Smith said, "and so it makes us very knowledgeable about what we do."