Rising tide: real-estate sales are up along the coast.

Though the calendar says it's winter along the Carolina coast, the housing market is still hot. And it shows no signs of cooling off. From the Outer Banks to Wilmington and on down to Myrtle Beach, S.C., existing homes are being sold and new homes are being built in record numbers.

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Take the boom under way in Brunswick County, nestled on the North Carolina coast between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach. Home to 45 miles of sandy beaches, the historic port towns of Calabash and Southport, Bald Head Island, Oak Island and more than 35 golf courses, it's no wonder that Brunswick had the largest increase--46%--in existing home sales in North Carolina in 2003. The county also topped the category in 2002, with a 58% jump, according to the North Carolina Association of Realtors. Brunswick also led the state in 2003 with a 17% increase in its average home price.

Real-estate agent Richard D'Anjolell runs Oak Island-based Richard D'Anjolell Group, part of Century 21 Dorothy Essey & Associates Inc. "Oak Island has traditionally been Brunswick County's most affordable beach community," he says. "In the last three years, land value on the island has doubled each year."

The growth isn't just in Brunswick County. In 2002 and 2003, the real-estate association reported strong increases in home sales for coastal communities. One reason for the growth is that retirees have discovered the region. But other factors are at play. "One thing driving the coastal boom is that the second-home market has developed more into an investment market," says Richard Hess, vice president and general sales manager of Kill Devil Hills-based Sun Realty, which has seven offices on the Outer Banks. "Price appreciation on homes has been so strong that people are choosing to invest in real estate instead of putting all their money in the stock market."

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Data from the National Association of Realtors supports Hess' theory. The Chicago-based organization conducted a benchmark survey in 2002 that showed 37% of second-home owners use the properties for investment income, up from 20% in 1999.

Due to the growing interest, the residential market in the Outer Banks now encompasses more than the traditional hot spots, Hess says. "People used to just want to be in, say, Duck, for their second home. But now with the investment properties, people are less focused on location and are open-minded to different areas. That means the market is strong here from Corolla on down to Hatteras."

Interest rates also are driving home sales. "All the coastal areas of North Carolina are hot right now, and what really is fueling the boom is the low interest rates," says Charles Blake, president and owner of Southport-based Port Realty Inc. and co-owner of Blake Home Builders Inc.

Jim Wallace, president of Wilmington-based Intracoastal Realty, sees interest rates as only one factor in the coastal housing boom. Among the others are the completion of Interstate 40, the growing wealth of baby boomers and the slump in the stock market. "If something comes on the market in Wrightsville Beach, there are multiple offers before sunset."

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While real-estate agents are busy selling existing homes, construction companies can't keep up with the demand for new homes in the region. The number of permits issued for residential construction in North Carolina increased by just 1% from 2000 to 2003, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. But several coastal counties posted double-digit growth in the number of residential construction permits issued over the same period. Brunswick County boasted a 98% increase. Permits increased 65% in Currituck County and 56% in New Hanover.

Coastal builders couldn't be happier. "We're enjoying quite a good business here," Blake says. "I've been in business since the '60s and have built houses over in Carolina Beach, North Myrtle Beach, in Pender County and all the surrounding areas, but we just don't need to do that anymore. There's plenty of work here in Brunswick County. We've seen a wave of new builders come into the area in the last year because the market is so hot."

An influx of new residents has come with the construction and sales boom. "There is certainly a lot of new construction under way, and the coast in general is seeing tremendous growth," says Mitzi York, president of the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce in Shallotte. "Because of that, we've seen tremendous population growth in the last 20 years. In the last U.S. Census, this county grew 43%." That put Brunswick County fifth in the state in population growth from 1990 to 2000, behind Johnston, Hoke, Wake and Union counties.

Brunswick's population is projected to grow 29% to nearly 95,000 by 2010. Other coastal counties are experiencing population booms as well. New Hanover's increased 33% from 1990 to 2000 and is projected to jump 23% to 197,000 by 2010. Pender's jumped 42% and is expected to increase 30% by the end of the decade. Dare's population grew by 31% and Currituck's by 32% in the same period. The trend also is evident in South Carolina's coastal counties: Beaufort and Horry counties, where Hilton Head Island and Myrtle Beach are, respectively, led the state's counties in population growth from 1990 to 2000. Beaufort County's population grew by 39% and Horry County's by 36%.

New residents find more than homes when they get to the North Carolina coast. UNC Wilmington serves the region, offering 71 undergraduate degree programs and 26 graduate programs. UNCW has strengthened its undergraduate teaching and overall academic programs during the past decade to become one of the top public universities in the South. In 2004, for the seventh consecutive year, the university was among the top 10 public regional undergraduate universities in the South, as ranked by U.S. News and World Report magazine. UNCW's enrollment has risen since 1990 from 7,000 students to nearly 11,500.

Access to quality health care is a plus, too, with the 628-bed New Hanover Regional Medical Center leading the way. The hospital has a highly rated emergency department, and it boasts one of the state's 12 neonatal intensive-care units. Other specialty services include four adult intensive-care units, inpatient pediatrics services, open-heart surgery and cardiac catheterization.

But not all the new homes are being built for permanent residents. Some end up as rentals. The Carolina coast is a destination for thousands of tourists each year. Any point from the Outer Banks of North Carolina to Charleston, S.C., is bound to delight travelers with plenty to see and do.

The Outer Banks is a chain of barrier islands bounded by Corolla on the north and Ocracoke Island to the south. It boasts wildlife refuges, maritime forests, the Cape Hatteras National Seashore and the Bodie Island, Cape Hatteras, Currituck Beach and Ocracoke Island light-houses. "Generations of families have been coming here to enjoy our pristine beaches that are consistently top-ranked, national parks, historic sites, maritime legends and museums, great dining and shopping and a whole host of outdoor-adventure activities," says Carolyn McCormick, managing director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau.

South of the Outer Banks is the Crystal Coast, which encompasses the barrier islands and mainland from Cape Lookout to Emerald Isle. On the mainland are Morehead City--one of North Carolina's two deepwater ports, along with Wilmington--and historic Beaufort. On the barrier islands, Cape Lookout National Seashore is protected from commercial development while the resort villages of Atlantic Beach, Pine Knoll Shores, Salter Path, Indian Beach and Emerald Isle offer accommodations and restaurants for vacationers.

Visitors to North Carolina's southern coast find lovely beaches--among them Wrightsville Beach, Carolina Beach, Ocean Isle and Sunset Beach--along with the picturesque port city of Wilmington, which has more than 75,000 residents. The Brunswick County barrier islands--Bald Head Island and Oak Island among them--form the most southern point of North Carolina's coast.

In South Carolina, Myrtle Beach and Hilton Head attract throngs of tourists every summer. Charleston and its nearby resorts of Kiawah Island and Seabrook Island draw retirees and those looking for a relaxing vacation getaway.

All along the Carolina coast, historical treasures and landmarks abound. One highlight is the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, site of the December 1903 controlled powered flight--the world's first. The visitor center features a full-scale replica of the Wrights' plane, and a 60-foot granite monument to the brothers sits atop Big Kill Devil Hill, a 90-foot dune.

Other historic venues include Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, on the north end of Roanoke Island, which marks the location of the first English settlement in North America. It was founded in 1585 but disappeared mysteriously soon afterward. Yet another highlight on the coast is the USS North Carolina, a World War II-era warship moored on the Cape Fear River in Wilmington. The 45,000-ton battleship was commissioned in 1941 and wields nine 16-inch turreted guns. It survived a direct torpedo hit in 1942.

For the culturally minded, Beaufort offers the North Carolina Maritime Museum, with exhibits on the region's nautical and natural history. It also has a display of more than 1,000 seashells. The state Department of Environment and Natural Resources runs aquariums at Roanoke Island, Pine Knoll Shores and Fort Fisher on Kure Beach. The Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium is closed for renovation and will reopen in 2006. But activities abound at the other locations. At the Roanoke Island aquarium, for example, visitors can see sharks, loggerhead turtles, starfish and sea urchins. In total, the North Carolina Aquariums welcomed more than 1 million visitors in 2004.

Several premier hotels and resorts stand out. The Myrtle Beach Marriott Resort at Grande Dunes opened in December 2003 and offers 405 guest rooms, most with an ocean view, and 45,000 square feet of meeting space. It is part of the new, upscale Grande Dunes community, a 2,200-acre, plantation-style residential development with condominium villas and patio and oceanfront homes. Amenities include a golf course, a tennis and fitness center, a large tropical beachfront pool with a waterslide and a European spa with an indoor pool.

Just outside Wilmington, in Wrightsville Beach, is the Blockade Runner Beach Resort Hotel and Conference Center. The 150-room, family-owned landmark has conference space for up to 350 people. Also in Wrightsville Beach is the Holiday Inn Sunspree, with ocean-front rooms, a food market, five pools, a fitness center and a business center.

Farther north is the posh Sanderling Resort & Spa, located on the Outer Banks near Duck. In May 2004, the 12-acre resort opened its newly expanded spa, with 8,000 square feet of treatment rooms for spa services, a yoga and pilates studio and a hair salon overlooking Currituck Sound. Travel + Leisure magazine rated The Sanderling as one of the world's top 500 hotels in 2003 and 2004, and Conde Nast Traveler magazine has included the resort on its Gold List seven consecutive years.

Visitors always will find coastal Carolina a satisfying destination for vacations. And the rapid pace of home sales and residential construction in the region should continue as more and more people discover the coast's beauty and attractions. As Richard Hess at Sun Realty on the Outer Banks says, "This market shows no signs of weakening."