Recently, we received the latest tax assessment for our house in Hanover Heights, an aging Wilmington neighborhood (our house was built in 1958) of mostly small ranch houses that used to be in a highly sought-after price range. But those prices are going up, up and up, even for the smallest of houses.   New Hanover County’s website explains the reassessment pr ...

Funded by $75,000 from public and private sources, Genesis Block launched its accelerator program this year to help local minority business owners. A partnership between NC IDEA and N.C. Black Entrepreneurship Council awarded a $50,000 grant to the Back on the Block Minority Accelerator, which also received $25,000 from New Hanover County. Among the businesses in the first ...

Our industry right now could be broken down into a tale of two worlds.   On one hand, we have a robust, thriving market, where houses are selling well before they are even finished. Builders are juggling more contracts than they know what to do with and are busier than ever.   On the other hand, we have an industry that has been plagued with huge price increa ...

On Feb. 1 the sale of New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health closed.   Along with transitioning ownership of the health system and starting to turn it into a regional hub for Novant, is the question of what to do now with the money.   As part of Winston-Salem-based Novant’s offer to beat out other interested bidders, the not-for-profit h ...

One year ago, just before the state imposed its first coronavirus-related lockdown, Madeline McCarthy and her husband, Robert Elkins, were getting comfortable in the log cabin they had bought in Saluda. Their move to the picturesque community outside Asheville followed more than a year roaming North America in an RV and before that, two years living near a beach and rainfo ...

It shares a ZIP code with apartment complexes, storage centers, a skate park, a Walmart Supercenter and thousands of Wilmingtonians who hang up their board shorts and bikinis in and around Ogden and Porters Neck.   Yet hardly a directional sign shows drivers the way to Figure Eight Island.   That’s by design.   “I used to run an ad that sai ...

Mushrooming apartment developments. A steady stream of new residents fueling the Cape Fear real estate market. Record-setting luxury home sales. A healthy demand for housing is a positive indicator of the area’s economy, right? But there’s a flip side, say local housing advocates: Increasing numbers of existing residents can’t find housing they can afford ...

Like many altruistic minds, local social worker Donna Evans has volunteered at soup kitchens and similar organizations to help community members in need. For her, though, that work just didn’t feel like enough.   Perhaps longtime friends Tom and Kim Dalton sensed Evans’ desire to do more when they asked her to join several other New Hanover stakeholders ...

The Cape Fear region has long been a popular relocation spot, but now even more people are flocking to Wilmington. The area was one of the most sought-after places to live in the nation last year, the ripple effects showing in various real estate trends. And some of those trends have come because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  1. Luxury Sales Sparkle Breaking record ...

“I will tell you that my real estate experience is by far not the biggest contributor to my understanding and dealings as a county commissioner; my public service is,” Deb Hays said.   Winning her 2020 bid for a seat on the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, Hays has a decades-long career with Intracoastal Realty, collecting accolades and recogni ...