MCEDP

The Village of Pinehurst can now add another accolade to its resume: most popular retirement town.

Pinehurst in Moore County — which will host the 2024 U.S. Open golf tournament — ranked as the “most popular retirement town” in Zillow’s list of most popular housing markets of 2023. Zillow defines a retirement town as one in which at least 33 percent “of the population is over the age of 65 and has no children or other relatives (other than a spouse) living in the home.”

“Pinehurst was the most popular retirement town among Zillow surfers in 2023, edging out Hilton Head Island, South Carolina,” Zillow said about the Sandhills community. “With warm climates and golf courses galore, it’s easy to see why both cities are popular for retirees.”

Zillow said it “analyzed housing metrics that indicate consumer demand, including page-view traffic, home value growth and days on market, for more than 2,000 U.S. cities” to determine its list of most popular housing markets. Overall, no North Carolina municipality fell in the top 10 most popular markets, which was dominated by localities in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Ohio.

The Village of Pinehurst has seen explosive growth over the past decade — not only with retirees moving in, but also due to people looking for a slower pace of life or convenient location to explore golf courses. The village’s population grew from a population of 13,124 residents in 2010 to 17,581 residents in 2020, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2022, that number jumped up to 18,416, a growth of roughly 4.8 percent in two years.

Moore County is attracting younger families and new business investments. The commercial real estate scene is very active with large projects like Morganton Park South, a retail destination in Southern Pines that will include the first Target store in the county.

And with the U.S. Open coming up in June, the area will be getting national attention as the United States Golf Association shows off its new Golf House Pinehurst.

(Article by Triangle Business Journal)