About Wrighsville Beach Real Estate
It is often called “North Carolina’s answer
to Paradise.”
Whether you should buy that or not is debatable, but this pristine barrier island, called Wrightsville Beach, is certainly one of the elite places to live on the entire East Coast. It has been that way for a long time.
Even before I-40 was opened up to New Hanover County in the late 1980s, Wrightsville Beach was considered the most popular beach on the North Carolina coast. The island has always been well-governed with much thought going into making it a desirable place to visit and live. The well-preserved family atmosphere (coupled with the beach’s relative small size) has elevated real estate values above near-by beaches. And when I-40 was constructed to its front door, this disparity in land values became exaggerated even more.
As land values have escalated over the last 20 years, more and more “beach cottages” have been renovated or leveled and then replaced by larger and modernized homes. This activity has only made the island more attractive to high-income individuals. The year-round population on Wrightsville Beach has increased from years earlier, but there is still a large constituency of out-of-town landowners, made up of doctors, lawyers, business owners, and executives of high net worth status.
There is a local saying that does indeed describe the real estate market without the usual exaggeration that often accompanies local lore. It goes something like this: “If you can afford to own land on Wrightsville Beach, you do not have to sell.” This fact alone usually keeps real estate values high in comparison to other area properties. The statistic for “Days on Market” is usually much higher for listed properties at Wrightsville Beach than anywhere in the surrounding area, providing proof for the accuracy of that local saying. This stat usually holds true in good times and in slow markets.
The national recession, which now appears to have begun in 2007, will prove to be a buying opportunity at Wrightsville Beach. But, like most economic situations, this will only become clear after the fact. History has repeatedly shown that Wrightsville Beach is a wonderful place to visit, to live on, and to invest in.
Learn more about buying a home in Wrightsville Beach. >