Hatteras Island Real Estate: A Profile Of Development On Hatteras Island

In the course of meeting many prospective buyers and sellers over the years, my real estate colleagues and I are asked a wide range of questions. Two of the more recent inquiries were – “When did significant amounts of residential development occur on the island?” and “How built-out is Hatteras Island?” These conversations often develop into great topics for further research. This article takes a look at some of the facts related to these interesting subjects.

The following chart shows the number of homes built on Hatteras Island during each 10-year period since 1960 according to the Dare County tax records.

As you can see, the island started being discovered by the outside world during the 1970s, and the construction of new homes accelerated until the most recent real estate market downturn began in mid-2005. During the decade of 2000 to 2009, almost 80 percent of the homes were built between 2000 and 2005. From that point forward until today, there was a precipitous decline from an average of 198 homes built per year to an average of just 35 homes built per year during the past eight years. From these figures, it is easy to see why much of the recent construction activity has been focused on repairs and renovations vs. new construction.

Turning to a statistical profile of properties on Hatteras Island, we find that the island is about 76 percent “built-out” when a comparison is made between the total number of real estate parcels on the island and those that have been developed for residential, commercial, and other uses. This table offers a more detailed breakdown of the underlying data.

It is also informative to examine how the macro statistics compare to the development of waterfront properties. Oceanfront properties are around 91 percent built out, while soundfront and canalfront/lakefront parcels are less developed. Interestingly, high demand waterfront properties in total are only slightly more built-out than the island in general – 76.4 percent vs.75.6 percent.

While the opportunity to purchase undeveloped oceanfront properties is dwindling, there are many very attractive vacant parcels that are still available to make Hatteras Island dreams come true!

Questions and comments may be sent to Tom Hranicka at P.O. Box 280, Avon, NC 27915 or by e-mail to hranicka@hatterasisland.com. | Copyright © 2018 Tom & Louise Hranicka. All rights reserved.