‘‘ONE out every 15 houses on Wrightsville Beach
had significant damage, my beach house
being one of them,” Vance Young says. “Here
it is January 9 and you still have blue tarps
everywhere.”
Nonetheless, the beach is open and busy.
“New Year’s Day broke clear and warm, and thousands of
folks came out to the island and many took a plunge in the
ocean or simply took a walk on the beach. I’d say that’s an
appropriate metaphor for the resilience of our town and an
excellent antidote to a very damp 2018,” Randall Williams says.
The storm didn’t kill the market.
“The big question will be if we get a bounce in inventory,
people who are now working through their property damage,”
Williams says.
Forty-two single family homes sold. Of these 42, all but
three were water view, while 15 were waterfront. Thirty-three
were on Wrightsville, including 24 West Salisbury Street, the
top price on Wrightsville and fifth top sale in New Hanover
County, selling at $3.525 million on the water where Lees
Cut and Banks Channel join. The property was the dream
home built by a broker and her contractor husband who were
downsizing.
“Too much house for Eddie and me,” seller/broker Margaret
Collins says. The buyer is a builder from Fayetteville with lots
of grandchildren.
Besides Salisbury, there were 23 additional sales above
$1 million, 16 between $1 million and $2 million and seven
above $2 million.
The least expensive home to sell was also the oldest home to
sell. No. 8 Latimer Street, built in 1910, sold for $550,000.
“The most immediate seller used it solely as a rental
duplex,” says Broker Alexander Koonce of Intracoastal Realty.
“But the previous owners had kept the upstairs for themselves
and rented the downstairs. The new owner will repeat this
pattern. They plan on totally redoing it.”
The below-street-level downstairs of the home contained a
historical record.
“Downstairs was kind of an open kitchen, living and dining
area and it had this post. On it was brass plaques marking the
house’s water level in each hurricane since the house was built.
The water level in Florence was the same as Hurricane Hazel:
3 feet.”
Possibly the best value was 1502 North Lumina Avenue,
a duplex cottage built in 1946, updated in 1999 by Wright
Holman, bringing in approximately $2,000 a month in rental
income. It sold for $575,000.
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68
WBM february 2019
PHOTOS COURTESY THE PIER HOUSE GROUP
The 5th top sale in New Hanover County was Wrightsville
Beach’s top sale at 24 West Salisbury Street with fabulous
views of Banks Chanel and Lees Cut. It sold for $3.5 million.
MWB
910.256.6569 • wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com