A rare housing bubble report from North Carolina. "The morning after the big real estate boom is roughest in places like Carolina Beach where speculation pushed some prices up close to 100 percent over two years. But the giddiness of 2005 is a memory in a lot of places."

"May marked the fourth month in a row that the number of homes sold declined from the same time last year, according to the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors, which covers New Hanover and parts of Pender and Brunswick counties."

"Last summer, real estate on Carolina Beach was so hot resident Vick Gore said he could mow his lawn and a Realtor would approach and offer to list his second-row home. Now the search is for buyers. Nearly 800 Carolina Beach properties are on the market, many of them new construction like the duplexes surrounding Gore's 70-year-old cottage, one of them with a 'reduced price' sign in the front yard."

"'There's nothing happening down here,' Gore said, adding that another of his properties near Snow's Cut has attracted barely a serious nibble in the six months since he put a sign on it."

"From January to March this year, median price for an existing single family home in the county dropped to $198,000 from $235,000, according to a data-collection company."

"Broker Martie Rice expects more decreases in prices on Pleasure Island, a boon for the person looking to keep the property for two or three years and use it. 'Someone can get a terrific value on a really nice home,' she said. 'Just don't plan to make a profit on it in the next 12 months.'"

"(Realtor) Justin Donaton in Carolina Beach said..people who bought before last year might not be able to sell for all they hoped, but they probably still can make money, he said."

"It's trickier if you bought last year. 'Good properties and fair prices are going to sell,' he said. 'A fair price probably isn't last July or August's prices.'"