A Topsail Island estate fetches record-setting $4.5M

A luxury transaction in May on Topsail Island reached a new height.

The $4.5 million sale of 230 N. Anderson Blvd. in Topsail Beach set a record for the highest-priced sale of a single-family home the Pender County island has seen, according to Realtors involved in the transaction. It's the second-highest home sale in Pender behind a mainland house that fetched more than $4.5 million.

The buyer of 230 N. Anderson Blvd. is listed as Live Oaks Future LLC, a Raleigh entity organized by attorney Chris N. Hewitt, according to its only filing with the state’s corporations division. The sellers were Grey Havens I and Grey Havens II revocable living trusts, property tax records show.

The nearly 5,200-square-foot custom home has four bedrooms and seven bathrooms. The seller’s agent, Michael Nelson of Landmark Sotheby’s International Realty, said the property consists of multiple adjoining lots that total a little over an acre on a high bluff overlooking Banks Channel Sound.  

“It has 209 feet of waterfront directly on the sound with a dock complex that offers two boat lifts and two jet ski lifts, all on navigable deep water,” Nelson said in an email. “The property rests under a canopy of majestic live oaks. … The chef's kitchen boasts soapstone countertops, a Wolf gas range and Sub  Zero refrigerator and other high-end appliances. 

“There is even a glass-enclosed wine room with its own dedicated climate control and stainless steel racks for over 1,000 bottles of wine."

Nelson, who worked with the estate’s original owner, said the property also holds the island’s legendary “gold hole.” As the story goes, Nelson said, crews created the hole in the 1930s during a search for a shipwreck’s gold (they might or might not have found it).

“That spot is one of the highest elevations on Topsail Island simply because of all the soil and sand that was pulled out of that hole and piled up around it,” he said.

Frank Sherron, also of Landmark Sotheby’s International Realty, represented the buyer in the transaction. Landmark Sotheby's has offices in Wilmington, Topsail Island, Southport, Ocean Isle Beach, Duck and Morehead City.

Sherron credits the Topsail Island home's unique features with its latest sale.

“I believe that contributing factors [to the home's price] include the quality of construction and design, privacy, higher elevation as well as the generous amount of land and waterfront that is afforded with this property to include deep water access with a sandy beach for swimming – a rare combination on our sound,” Sherron said in an email.

The residential real estate price record, which was previously $2.7 million on Topsail, is a sign of the times for the area’s oceanfront dwellings, although not all oceanfront and luxury property types are experiencing the same traction.

“As low inventory and high demand for property in New Hanover county continue to escalate, many buyers are discovering the advantages of beach towns and properties along the Intracoastal in Pender County,” said Danny Malechuk, CEO of Landmark Sotheby’s. “Inventory is still lower than we've seen in years past, resulting in a more balanced market than what was a significant sellers market in previous years.” 

Move-in ready homes are still moving very quickly, he said, “while we have seen a bit of softening and longer days on market for homes which may need updating and are not priced to reflect the expense and effort required to bring them up to date.”