The Summer Surge | June '24 Market Update

Craven County is experiencing growth and expecting continued growth in the future. As an

eastern North Carolina kid that grew up on a tobacco farm, I am unsure how I feel about all this

growth as I love rural ENC. As a twenty-one-year Realtor here in Craven County, I have other

feelings about the growth as well. Dr. Dean Martin, my philosophy professor at Campbell

University taught me that if you are not growing, you are dying. Craven County is healthy and

growing, as it is fun to see new additions to our local community, though growing pains are a real

thing, too!

The great part of growth around Craven County is we are seeing more activities and things to

do. A complaint I have heard over my years in real estate from both locals and folks moving to

the area is the lack of shopping and activities. Over the last 5 years, shopping has improved in

Craven County. Though I am not much of a shopper, we now have more grocery stores and big

box stores such as Publix, Academy Sports, and Home Goods. We have also seen more small

businesses come to Craven County such as Smith Bois Vintage, while other established local

small businesses have grown such as the best running shoe store in eastern North Carolina,

Coastal Sole that now has more space to carry more inventory. Without the growth of Craven

County, these businesses would not have come to Craven County or grown here, which is great

for our local economy.

Growth is noticeable locally by watching what the larger employers in our area are doing. At an

economic forum I attended a few months ago, Cherry Point, Bosch, International Paper, and

other large local employers were all looking at hiring while discussing the need for proper work

force training. We are fortunate to have Craven Community College with campuses in New

Bern and Havelock that are both big on workforce development. As these big industries grow,

they will create better-paying jobs while also attracting other businesses to our area. In looking

at Cherry Point, not only is the civilian workforce growing at the Navy Depot on base, which

maintains the aircraft our military use, the Marine population is growing there also, which brings

people who serve our country to our area. Growth in these different sectors is great for our

local economy as it allows people with different education levels and abilities to find sustainable,

well-paying jobs.

Growth can be seen in housing also. From Vanceboro to Havelock and everywhere in between,

you can see signs of growth by the new neighborhoods being built. We are also seeing new

subdivisions in older neighborhoods, such as Trent Woods, while other older neighborhoods are

seeing the remaining lots being built on, such as Cherry Branch and Fairfield Harbour. The new

construction is helping us Realtors have something to sell as we need more homes on the

market to keep up with the pace of people moving here. One of the reasons that prices are up

6.5% this year in Craven County is because we are still seeing people moving from outside of

the area. The new construction is helping by building more homes for sale, and typically, builders

continue to raise their prices as they go through a neighborhood. Though not all new

construction is of the same quality, all new construction has its place in our market.

The best part of the growth Craven County is experiencing is that we are seeing more things to

do locally. If you have not been to see the New Bern Southpaws game yet, you are missing an

enjoyable time. As a community, we need to support these local events like Footloose on the

Neuse, the Chili Festival, and other community events. The more support we

can give to these local events as a community, the better chance we have of getting even more things to do.

We have seen more live music, dramatic performances, and things happening at the

convention center. The Historical Society and other local non-profits are always having events

for people of all ages. The arts community we have keeps things lively at the Art Walk and the

local businesses keep sponsoring more events to make them possible.

We are lucky to live where we live, and the growth Craven County is experiencing is positive. We

can all agree the road construction and the traffic it causes is no fun. However, growth has its

pains, too and we would rather our area be growing than dying.