Southport

Southport Real Estate | Four Hundred Listings and a $95,000 Spread

Southport sits at the mouth of the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County, where the river meets the Atlantic, and the range of Southport homes for sale runs from mobile homes under $100,000 to waterfront property well above $1.5 million. It is a historic port town rather than a beach town: a low-rise downtown of period houses under live oaks, a working waterfront at the Yacht Basin, and the ferry terminal that serves Bald Head Island. Wilmington is under thirty-five miles northeast and Oak Island is a short drive south.

Published figures span about $95,000 and the sources are measuring different things rather than disagreeing. Zillow's index sits at about $397,300, up 3.8 percent. A property platform gives a median sale price of $465,000, up 4 percent, with 71 days on market, alongside a separate median home price of $487,950 and an average sale price of $541,420. One aggregator reports a list median of $492,305 at about $252 per square foot across 377 active listings. A mortgage platform recorded 418 homes for sale at a median of $433,000. An index, a sold median, a list median, and an average will not agree, and on this market the gap between them is the useful information.

What the figures do agree on is depth of choice. Between 377 and 418 listings in a town this size is substantial inventory, and 71 to 93 days on market depending on the measure is a market where a buyer has time. Against the county, Southport sits above: Brunswick County recorded a single-family median of $438,945 in June 2026, up 1.4 percent, with single-family months of supply down to 5.2 and homes achieving about 97.9 percent of list price. Southport is the more expensive end of a county that is broadly holding.

The Andy Bovender Team serves Southport from Compass offices across the Carolinas, including Wilmington under thirty-five miles northeast, alongside Charlotte, Charleston, Columbia, Fort Mill, Greenville, Lake Murray, and the Outer Banks. Two things follow. First, a market spanning mobile homes under $100,000 and riverfront above $1.5 million produces a median that describes neither, so comparables must match on product type and position before anything else. Second, this is a historic town on a river mouth: age, elevation, storm history, and insurance cost with its trend all matter, and on a period house the two sets of questions compound.

What to Love About Southport

A Historic Waterfront Town, Not a Beach Town

Southport is a period town at a river mouth with a low-rise downtown, live oaks, and a working Yacht Basin. It has a year-round population and its own history rather than a season, which is what separates it from the Brunswick beaches.

A Restaurant With Four Thousand Reviews and an Honor Bar

Provision Company on Yacht Basin Drive carries more than 4,000 reviews, serves steamed shrimp on a waterfront deck, and runs its drinks on an honor system where you tell them what you had. It is one of the most reviewed restaurants on this coast.

Four Hundred Listings to Choose From

Between 377 and 418 properties have been listed at once in a town this size, with 71 to 93 days on market. Buyers here have unusual depth of choice and time to use it.

The Ferry to Bald Head Island

Southport is the mainland terminal for the Bald Head Island passenger ferry, which makes it the gateway to a car-free island covered on its own page. Very few small towns are the only way to reach somewhere.

Genuinely Accessible Entry Points

Mobile homes have listed here from under $100,000 and the town's range runs up past $1.5 million, which is a wider spread than any other Brunswick market. Southport accommodates more kinds of buyer than its reputation suggests.

Fifteen Minutes to Oak Island, Under Thirty-Five Miles to Wilmington

The beach is a short drive south and a full-service city is under thirty-five miles northeast, with Wilmington International Airport in the same direction. Southport is central to the whole lower Cape Fear.

Southport Sub-Areas | A Buyer's Guide

Southport runs from a historic core at the river mouth outward into newer development, and position means how close a property sits to the water and to the old town. Four groupings cover it.

The Historic District and the Waterfront

The old town at the river mouth holds Southport's period housing and its only walkable ground, with the Yacht Basin, the restaurants, and the waterfront within a few minutes. Product runs to period houses under live oaks, some restored and some not, at the upper end of the town's pricing. The diligence here is layered: on a building that may be a century old or more, establish the structural and envelope condition, the systems, the storm history, and what every renovation did and under what permit, and then add the coastal set on top, because a period house at a river mouth has weathered a great deal. Establish also whether any historic designation applies and what it would require of an exterior change.

The River and Waterway Frontage

Property fronting the Cape Fear River, the Intracoastal, or the creeks between them sits at the top of the Southport market, priced on water position and on what any dock permits rather than on square footage. Product ranges from period houses with frontage to substantial newer construction. Establish dock permit status where one exists and what would be permitted where one does not, establish water depth and access at varying tides, and obtain the elevation certificate and base flood elevation for the specific parcel. At a river mouth where the Cape Fear meets the Atlantic, the exposure profile is its own question and the insurance cost is the number that answers it.

The Established Neighborhoods and the Highway Corridors

Away from the historic core, Southport's conventional neighborhoods spread along Highway 211 and Highway 87 and hold the volume of the market: detached houses built across several decades on standard lots, generally without the period stock's diligence burden. This is where most buyers land and where the town's more accessible pricing sits, including its mobile and manufactured housing. Condition varies considerably, so compare within a neighborhood rather than across the town, and budget for the maintenance profile of housing that may be several decades old.

The Newer Planned Communities

Southport and the ground around it carry newer planned communities with homeowners associations and amenity packages, some of them substantial and some with golf, which is where a large share of the town's inventory sits and where relocating buyers most often land. Read the association documents, establish what the fee covers and what it will be after builder handover, ask what remains to be built on adjacent parcels, and confirm whether a specific address sits inside the Southport city limits or in unincorporated Brunswick County, because the boundary is not obvious and it affects taxes and services.

Property Types Across Southport

Four categories cover the town. Period houses in the historic district are the character stock and carry the deepest diligence requirement. River, waterway, and creek-front property is the top of the market and is priced on water position and dock rights. Established neighborhood housing along the corridors is the volume of the market and the most accessible, including manufactured housing at the bottom of the range. Newer planned community housing is the most current inventory. Across all four, five questions decide value: the build era and what every renovation did on anything period; whether historic designation applies; dock permit status and depth where relevant; elevation, storm history, and insurance cost with its trend; and whether the parcel sits inside the city limits or in unincorporated county.

Living in Southport | Dining, Shopping, and Things to Do

Dining

Southport eats at the Yacht Basin and along North Howe Street, and the review counts suggest people come from across the region for it.

Provision Company, at 130 Yacht Basin Drive, is the town's institution and one of the most reviewed restaurants on this coast, doing steamed shrimp, crab cake sandwiches, tuna steak, and onion rings on a waterfront deck, with a self-serve drinks arrangement run on trust. Open seven days.

Edgewater 122, at 122 Yacht Basin Drive, is the waterfront dinner restaurant, working steak frites, surf and turf, tuna tartare, shrimp and grits with polenta cakes, and a bone-in pork chop, on a covered patio over the water. Open seven days, and it takes reservations online.

Carolina Coastal Cafe, at 607 North Howe Street, is the breakfast and lunch room and one of the town's highest rated, doing stacked biscuits, stuffed French toast, and grits, with outdoor seating and an outside bar. Closed Wednesdays and Thursdays, and it closes at 2.

Dot's on Howe, at 503 North Howe Street, is the small family-run counter, doing loaded hot dogs, burgers, chicken salad, a BLT regulars single out, and Southern sweet tea, with gluten-free options handled willingly. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

Shopping and Everyday Errands

Southport is well provisioned for a town of its size, which is one of the advantages of being the lower Cape Fear's mainland center rather than an island. The historic downtown carries independent shops, galleries, and services in a walkable arrangement alongside the restaurants, and the corridors along Highway 211 and Highway 87 carry the grocery stores, pharmacies, medical offices, and larger retail. That covers daily life without leaving the town, which is not true of the Brunswick islands nearby. For a wider run, Wilmington is under thirty-five miles northeast with the region's full range and its own page, and Myrtle Beach lies further south. Buyers should note that Southport is laid out for driving outside the historic blocks, and that the town draws visitors in season, so downtown parking is a genuine consideration.

The Waterfront, the Ferry, and Things to Do

Southport's waterfront is the town, and the Yacht Basin is where most of its life happens: boats working in and out, restaurants along the water, and the river mouth beyond where the Cape Fear meets the Atlantic. The passenger ferry to Bald Head Island runs from here, which makes Southport the gateway to a car-free island covered on its own page and gives the waterfront a working purpose beyond dining. Boating, kayaking, and fishing run from the basin and the river, and the historic streets under live oaks are the town's other pleasure, walkable in a way little else on this coast is.

Beyond the town, Southport is central to the lower Cape Fear. Oak Island is a short drive south with its canals, pier, and lighthouse, covered on its own page, and Bald Head Island lies across the water. Boiling Spring Lakes sits ten to twelve minutes north with its preserve, covered in this volume, and Ocean Isle Beach and Sunset Beach run southwest along the coast with their own pages. Wilmington is under thirty-five miles northeast with its riverfront downtown, its airport, and the region's full retail, covered on its own page. The practical summary is that Southport is the historic mainland town the Brunswick beaches orbit, and it functions year-round in a way they do not.