On the last full read of the neighborhood, King’s Grant had 25 active listings running from $250,000 to $498,500, with a median asking price of $390,000. Strip out the two manufactured homes and the 23 houses and townhomes ran $299,000 to $498,500, median $394,700, which puts the entire active list below the New Hanover County median sale price.
King’s Grant is one of the last places in New Hanover County where a three-bedroom house on a real lot still starts under $300,000 and sits fifteen minutes from both downtown Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach. That is the whole appeal, and it is also the reason buyers keep asking us what the number actually is.
The honest version has two parts: what the list looks like today, and why that list prices below the rest of the county. The second part is where the money is.
What the active list looks like
When we built our King’s Grant community guide, the brokerage page for the neighborhood showed 25 active listings and 7 pending. The 25 active ran $250,000 to $498,500 with a median asking price of $390,000. Taking out the two manufactured homes, the 23 houses and townhomes ran $299,000 to $498,500 with a median of $394,700.
Two other numbers put that in context. The American Community Survey for 2020 through 2024 puts the median value of owner-occupied homes in Kings Grant at $300,700, which is lower because it covers all existing stock across a five-year window rather than what is listed this month. And the active listings there showed a median 44 days on market against 58 countywide, so the better-priced houses here do not sit.
- 25 active listings, $250,000 to $498,500, median asking price $390,000 Coldwell Banker King’s Grant page read for our community guide, October 5, 2026
- 23 houses and townhomes, excluding manufactured homes, $299,000 to $498,500, median $394,700 Same read, October 5, 2026
- Median value of owner-occupied homes, Kings Grant CDP: $300,700 American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024
- New Hanover County median sale price $464,000, down 1.3 percent year over year, 61 days on market Our New Hanover County market update, September 2026 data
Against the county, that gap is the headline. Our New Hanover County market update puts the median sale price at $464,000 for the three months ending September 2026. Every active King’s Grant listing on that October read sat below it.
What that actually costs per month
Price is not payment, and in this market the difference is large. Freddie Mac’s weekly survey put the 30-year fixed at 7.40 percent for the week ending October 15, 2026, which is 74 basis points higher than it was eight weeks earlier. On the $390,000 median asking price with 20 percent down, a $312,000 loan runs about $2,160 a month in principal and interest at that rate.
Then add the tax line, which is where King’s Grant quietly wins. The neighborhood is unincorporated, so there is no city rate. The 2026 New Hanover County bill there combines the county rate of 0.3020, a fire district rate of 0.0725 and debt service of 0.0040, for 0.3785 per $100 of value. On $390,000 that is roughly $1,476 a year, about $123 a month. A comparable house inside the Wilmington city limits also pays the city rate of 0.2825 per $100 for fiscal year 2025-26, which on the same value would add roughly $1,100 a year.
What we are not quoting you is insurance, because nobody should. New Hanover is a coastal county, so expect a windstorm or named storm deductible set as a percentage of your dwelling coverage rather than a flat dollar amount, and get a written quote on the specific address during due diligence. Our guide to coastal homeowners insurance walks through how that deductible works before it costs you.
Why King’s Grant prices below the county
Three things hold the price down, and all three are knowable before you make an offer.
The first is age. The median home in King’s Grant was built in 1979. About half the stock is older than that, and a substantial share predates the 1978 federal lead-based paint threshold. Budget for roofs, HVAC, original windows and aging plumbing, and do not skip the sewer lateral. A $340,000 house with a $25,000 deferred maintenance list is a $365,000 house.
The second is that this is not one subdivision. King’s Grant is a Census-designated place of about 4.54 square miles and 9,003 people, platted in waves by different developers. Which pocket you buy in changes the comparable sales, and sometimes whether there is an association at all. Of 4,445 housing units, 352 are mobile or manufactured, which affects the comparables an appraiser can use and the loan products a lender will write.
The third is that there is no village center. No walkable block of restaurants, no grocery you can reach on foot. Dining and shopping sit out on Market Street and North College Road, both of which back up at rush hour. If walkability is near the top of your list, Mayfaire or the historic downtown will serve you better and will cost more, and we would rather say that now than after you have toured six houses here.
What moves the price inside the neighborhood
Two addresses a few streets apart can carry different numbers, and two factors explain most of it.
The school line
An attendance boundary runs through the middle of King’s Grant. We ran 96 points through the New Hanover County Schools locator for our guide. East and central King’s Grant, 53 of those points, feeds John J. Blair Elementary, Emma B. Trask Middle and New Hanover High School. Western King’s Grant, 43 points, feeds Wrightsboro Elementary, Holly Shelter Middle and E. A. Laney High School. The boundary layer behind that locator is dated 2022 to 2023 and boundaries in a growing county get redrawn, so run your exact address through the district’s own tool rather than trusting a listing sheet.
Flood and the Gordon Road project
Flood risk here is real but concentrated along the creek corridors. Of those same 96 points queried in the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer, 80 came back Zone X, 14 came back Zone AE including two in the floodway, and two in the 0.2 percent annual chance band. About one point in seven landed where a federally backed mortgage requires flood insurance. Pull the determination for the parcel, and if it comes back AE, get a written flood quote before you waive anything. Our Wilmington flood zone guide explains how the determination and an elevation certificate change the premium.
Meanwhile NCDOT is widening 2.5 miles of Gordon Road from Interstate 40 to Market Street under project U-6202, with a raised median, a multi-use path and a reduced conflict intersection in the finished design. Construction is noise and detours now. The finished road removes some left turns out of neighborhood streets and replaces them with a right turn and a U-turn, which is worth understanding before you fall for a house on that end.
The listing figures above are asking prices from one brokerage’s page on one morning, not an MLS report of what closed, and that page returned a server error on part of its inventory when we read it. Treat $390,000 as the shape of the market rather than a precise median. The deeper caution is the one buyers skip: a price under the county median in a county this expensive is usually buying you a 1979 house, and the inspection list on those is longer than on a 2015 build. If your budget has no room for a roof and an HVAC system in the first five years, a newer build in Murrayville or a townhome closer to Ogden may be the safer purchase even at a higher sticker price.
Related questions people also ask
Is King’s Grant a cheap part of Wilmington?
It is one of the more affordable parts of New Hanover County, which is not the same as cheap. On the October 5, 2026 read of the neighborhood page, the 25 active listings ran $250,000 to $498,500 with a median asking price of $390,000, while the county median sale price was $464,000 for the three months ending September 2026. The savings come from the age of the housing stock and the lack of a walkable center, not from a worse location.
Do King’s Grant homes pay Wilmington city taxes?
No. Almost every address reads Wilmington 28405, but the neighborhood is in unincorporated New Hanover County, so there is no municipal rate on the bill. The 2026 county bill there combines the county rate of 0.3020, a fire district rate of 0.0725 and debt service of 0.0040, for 0.3785 per $100 of value. That is the single biggest reason a King’s Grant payment comes in lower than a similar house inside the city limits.
Are King’s Grant homes in a flood zone?
Most are not, but a meaningful minority are. Of 96 points we queried in the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer on October 5, 2026, 80 returned Zone X, 14 returned Zone AE including two in the floodway, and two fell in the 0.2 percent annual chance band. The AE points follow the creek corridors through the neighborhood. A parcel in Zone AE requires flood insurance with a federally backed mortgage, so pull the determination for the specific address rather than assuming the neighborhood answer applies to it.
Send us two or three King’s Grant addresses you are watching and we will pull the tax record, the flood determination and the school assignment on each, then price the likely repair list against the asking price. That comparison is what tells you whether the discount is real. If you want to walk through it with someone who has written offers on this street grid, talk it through with our team.
Sources: Our King’s Grant community guide, including the Coldwell Banker neighborhood page read October 5, 2026, the New Hanover County Schools locator sampled at 96 points October 5, 2026, FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer queries at the same 96 points, and road routing estimates of the same date. American Community Survey, 2020 to 2024, for Kings Grant CDP population, housing units and median owner-occupied value. New Hanover County historic tax rates, 2026: county 0.3020, fire 0.0725, debt service 0.0040 per $100. North Carolina Department of Revenue, 2025-2026 County and Municipal Tax Rates and Effective Tax Rates, City of Wilmington municipal rate 0.2825 per $100. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, 30-year fixed at 7.40 percent, week ending October 15, 2026. NCDOT project U-6202, Gordon Road widening. Our New Hanover County market update, September 2026 data.
