SOUTHPORT - Near the peak of the recent real estate boom along coastal North Carolina's rivers and sounds, William Highfill got an invitation for a gala three-day sales weekend at a new Brunswick County subdivision.

It was spring 2006 when Highfill, a retired federal government worker from Roanoke, Va., joined a group of enthusiastic buyers from as far away as California. Between chair massages, catered meals and rides in two chartered helicopters, they looked around the pine-covered property, which had been a golf course. Highfill and his son-in-law, Mason Cass, bought three lots, solely for investment. The entire 200-lot first phase of the project sold out in two days.

At the time, that weekend wasn't unusual for the scorching-hot real estate market along the more than 3,000 miles of North Carolina's "inner coast." But today, the nation's housing bust is in full view in Brunswick County: Many of the sought-after lots are sprouting weeds instead of houses.

Brunswick, the epicenter of the boom, shows little evidence that the dizzying sales will return soon; with prices down, recent home sales show a modest recovery. Single-lot sales, though, have fallen to less than a fifth of their peak in late 2005. And foreclosure notices this year are running about 50 percent higher than those in the rest of the state.

A News & Observer survey in mid-2006 found more than 34,000 new homes in developers' plans, half of them in Brunswick County. There was excitement about new jobs and revenue for some of the state's poorest counties. But there were also worries about whether the boom would overwhelm the environmentally and culturally sensitive region and curtail the public's access to waterways.

Subdivisions the size of towns were announced for huge tracts of farmland in the northeast, and condominiums that would sell for as much as $1.2 million were planned along the central coast. Weekly, plans were filed for projects that would bring hundreds of homes to Brunswick County, with its strategic location between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

New phases of a subdivision were selling out in a day or two. Now, Highfill and Cass are among hundreds of investors along the inner coast who would like to sell. Their broker hasn't had a single nibble, though, since they listed the property in February.

"We're trying basically to get rid of one or two and hold on to the other in case they do grow in value," Highfill said. "But it doesn't seem like anything is moving."

The down market is bad news not just for investors but also for local economies. Builders, many of whom run businesses out of their homes, have laid off workers and in some cases have gone bankrupt. Banks, real estate offices, restaurants, hardware and building supply stores are suffering.

Some developers have scaled back plans; others have sold tracts and walked away from projects. Those with solid financial backing are gritting their teeth and waiting, even as they pay carrying costs on their investments. All are waiting for strong sales to return and wondering when -- and even if -- that will happen.

"The places that were really hot are dead," said New Bern attorney Ernest C. Richardson IV, who handles sales and foreclosures. "The ones that were just doing really well, like New Bern, are doing OK now, but speculative counties, like Pamlico and Brunswick, they're hurting."

Even at a major project he knew of that had good sales numbers, some buyers -- apparently speculators -- are reportedly trying to back out of contracts, Richardson said.

The promise of growth

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