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June 19 - July 2, 2020
wilmingtonbiz.com
Greater Wilmington Business Journal
SPECIAL FOCUS: TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
REAL ESTATE
Prompted to make a move F
PHOTO C/O BARBARA PUGH/COLDWELL BANKER SEA COAST ADVANTAGE
Still selling: This home in the Anchors Bend subdivision in Wilmington sold for about $612,000 in May.
BY CECE NUNN or some would-be homebuyers, particularly in large Northeastern cities in the U.S, the coronavirus pandemic helped them make up their minds to find a home in the Wilmington area. “I have talked to a couple of people that said this was kind of like the last straw for them,” said David Williams, Realtor with Century 21 Sweyer & Associates. “They were deciding, and this kind of pushed them to the edge to go ahead and make the move.” While Cape Fear Realtors, the Wilmington-based Realtors association with members who sell homes throughout a large portion of Southeastern North Carolina, doesn’t keep track of where homebuyers are coming from, anecdotal evidence indicates an increase in interest in general. Kathryn Ruth, relocation direc-
tor for Wilmington-based Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage, said the company received more referrals, up approximately 11% from April to May this year compared to the same period last year. The majority of the personal referrals, she said, seem to be from the Northeast, specifically Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York As of June 15, New Hanover County had 413 known cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19, with five deaths. Whereas in New York City, at the height of their new case count in April, there were more than 8,000 new cases in one day, and the city had more than 21,500 deaths as of June 15. But that’s not the only reason. “We just don’t have the same problems that they have had there. They’re so concentrated and the taxes are so high there in the New York area and the Northeast in general. A
