Pender County.
Hampstead, Surf City, Burgaw and the Topsail corridor — the steadiest of the three counties this year. Refreshed monthly.
The read
The steadiest market on the coast.
Pender is the smallest of the three markets and the most stable. The three-month median sale price is $477,000, up 0.5% year over year, price per square foot is up about 6%, and August closings rose to 115 from 111. Days on market stretched to 76 from 62, but active listings actually fell about 5% to 423 and price reductions are down 11% — the only county in the region where both moved the seller’s way.
Hampstead is doing the heavy lifting. Well-priced homes there still go under contract inside a month even as the county average stretches.
Three counties, one region
Where Pender sits against its neighbors.
Brunswick has the most inventory and the slowest pace; Pender is the tightest and steadiest; New Hanover is the priciest and the only one where prices are off year over year.
| County | Median sale price | Days on market | Homes sold | Active listings | P&I on the median* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Hanover →New Hanover County | $448,000-3.5% YoY | 58 days+21 vs last year | 396+0.8% YoY | 1,249+10.2% YoY | $2,372/mo |
| Brunswick →Brunswick County | $409,000+2.2% YoY | 98 days+31 vs last year | 579-7.8% YoY | 2,250+1.6% YoY | $2,166/mo |
| PenderPender County | $477,000+0.5% YoY | 76 days+14 vs last year | 115+3.6% YoY | 423-4.9% YoY | $2,526/mo |
*Principal and interest at this week’s 6.95% 30-year rate with 20% down. See the full mortgage update →
Hampstead
A Wilmington suburb with Pender taxes.
Twenty minutes north on Highway 17 and functionally part of Wilmington, with Pender County taxes and Topsail-area schools. WyndWater, Blake Farm at Scotts Hill and a pipeline of newer communities — East Wynd, Brookfield Branch, Sagebrook — are adding supply, and the bypass has changed the commute. It is where Wilmington buyers priced out of New Hanover go first.
Current Hampstead new-construction communities and incentives →
Surf City & inland
Topsail Island and Burgaw.
Surf City and the Topsail beaches are holding value better than the beaches to the south — a second-home and rental market with a strong year-round core. The coastal-insurance math that applies in Carolina Beach applies here: get the quote during due diligence.
Burgaw, Rocky Point and inland Pender are the region’s most affordable land and the longest commutes. Larger lots, septic and well are the norm, and days on market run well above the county median, which is exactly the negotiating room some buyers want.
What it means
Buying or selling in Pender.
Be ready in Hampstead. Take your time inland.
- Inventory is the tightest in the region and shrinking. Well-priced Hampstead homes still move fast; come pre-approved.
- Inland Pender is where the negotiating room is: longer days on market, larger lots, more flexible sellers.
- New construction here nearly always means registering your agent before your first model-home visit.
You are selling into the region’s steadiest demand.
- Prices are up and price cuts are down. You have more pricing power here than anywhere else on the coast — use it carefully, not aggressively.
- Buyers are comparing you to new builds at WyndWater, Blake Farm and East Wynd. Lean on lot size, trees, established location, no HOA.
- Coastal listings: expect insurance questions early and have last year’s premium ready.
The payment
What the median Pender home costs each month.
$477,000 with 20% down is a $381,600 loan. Here is the principal and interest at this week’s rate, last week’s, and a year ago.
Rates are Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed average. Full mortgage update → · Builder rate buydowns as low as 3.25% →
Region-wide
Our latest full-region updates.
Cape Fear Market Update — September 2026
The latest on the Cape Fear housing market: days on market are stretching out. Here is where prices, days on market, and rates stand.
Read the update →Wilmington NC Real Estate Market Update: August 2026 — Inventory Up 20%, Rates Hold at 6.66%
Inventory across the Cape Fear region is up more than 20% year over year in New Hanover and Brunswick counties, homes are sitting on the market roughly a month longer than they did last…
Read the update →Wilmington NC Real Estate Market Update: July 2026 — Inventory Climbs, Prices Split by County
Wilmington’s housing market keeps splitting in two directions. Sale prices in New Hanover County dropped 3.0% year over year to $480,000, while Pender County pushed the other way — up 6.2% to $476,627. What…
Read the update →Sources: Redfin — median sale price is the three months ending August 2026; days on market and homes sold are August 2026, compared with the same month a year earlier. Realtor.com via FRED — active listings, median list price and price-reduced listings, August 2026. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey, week ending September 17, 2026. County-level figures, not a valuation of any specific property. Payment figures are principal and interest only on a 30-year fixed loan with 20% down; they exclude taxes, insurance and HOA and are illustrative, not a loan offer.
Want a read on your street?
County medians are a starting point. We will tell you what your neighborhood is doing this month.