USA Today featured the Wilmington, NC, housing market in its regular “Close to Home” series today. Sales in December in Wilmington were up 19.8% compared with an increase of 18.9% in the state and 12.7% nationwide. Median home prices, however, were down 5.6% from a year ago.
The Wilmington area features more than a dozen golf communities, but only one, Landfall, includes member-only golf, in Landfall's case 45 holes. Landfall’s Jack Nicklaus course (27 holes) is considered by most golfers to be more difficult than its Pete Dye course. Current listings in Landfall range from $290,000 to more than $4 million.
Porters Neck, just north of the city, is also gated but the course is open the public. However, the $100+ green fees keep the riffraff out and give the Tom Fazio course a private-club feel. Current home prices are $300,000 to over $4 million.