Starting from high $400K: New Durham community targets 55-plus homebuyers
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- New Durham subdivision opens with 166 ranch-style homes targeting 55-plus buyers.
- Price range spans high $400Ks to mid $800Ks with first-floor owner suites.
- Developer Epcon touts amenity-rich, low-maintenance living amid aging population growth.
A new subdivision targeting homebuyers ages 55 and up has opened in eastern Durham, and it comes with a promise: “low-maintenance living.”
Developed by Epcon Communities, the Courtyards on Oak Grove at 1702 Doc Nichols Road is now selling 166 ranch-style homes. Options include single-family and townhomes, with two-, three-, and four-bedroom plans, ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 square feet.
With multiple products to choose from, the neighborhood offers “more affordable housing options,” said Paul Hanson, regional president for Epcon Communities, in a release.
It’s roughly 10 miles southeast of downtown Durham, near NC‑98, Sherron Road, and the Oak Grove area.
Features include first-floor owner suites, open-floor plans and private courtyards alongside other amenities like a clubhouse, fitness center, pool, pickleball court, fire pit and pocket parks.
Prices start at the high $400,000s and go up to the mid $800,000s.
The Ohio-based builder, founded in 1986, specializes in developing “amenity-rich” neighborhoods, landscaping services included. The product is “popular with 55-plus buyers,” it says on its website.
In recent years, it’s built or planned eight communities in the Triangle, including three in Chapel Hill, two in Durham and three in Cary.
Most recently, it opened the 64-home Courtyards on Farrington in Chapel Hill, and 73-home Courtyards at Lochmere in Cary. Both are priced from the upper $400,000s.
A growing trend
Between 2020 and 2023, the number of residents aged 65 and over jumped by 18.3% in the Raleigh-Cary metro area, making it one of the fastest-growing areas for this demographic in the country.
That surge is reshaping the Triangle housing market. At one end, it’s driving up demand for more affordable senior housing amid a chronic housing shortage and rising prices. At the other end, it’s spawning resort-style housing aimed at “active adults” aged 55 and over.
Other newly opened projects catering to this fast-growing market include Tri Pointe Homes’ Altis at Serenity, a 425-home planned community in Fuquay-Varina; and Mungo Homes’ 600-home Ovation at Sweetbrier subdivision in Southeast Durham.
Both communities offer homes starting at around $400,000.
