St. Paddy's Day in New Bern

As a long-standing favorite spot in New Bern, The Chelsea Restaurant serves a traditional St. Paddy's Day corned beef 'n cabbage, as well as featuring live entertainment!

Residents also enjoyed the traditional parade in the downtown Historic District. Considering that the weather was a little chillier than normal for this time of year, it's still a beautiful, sunny weekend!

Another happening this weekend is the annual New Bern Home & Garden Show, held at the Riverfront Convention Center. This is an event designed for homeowners in all stages of remodeling, landscaping and decorating their homes. The event includes hundreds of exhibits with merchandise, sample interior and exterior vignettes, as well as product demonstrations.

Where are the "Boomers" Moving?

According to a survey by the National Association of Realtors,
"Half of the Baby-Boomers who live in an urban area, would like to retire in a small town or rural area. Their ideal retirement location characteristics include a lower cost of living, being near family, quality health care, better climate, and being near a body of water."

Who are the Boomers?

• "Boomers" denotes anyone born between 1945 and 1964, and there are approximately 79 million boomers today.


• "Boomers" are the age group most likely to own homes, and 59% say that they will move when they retire.


• "Boomers" have the single largest median household income in the history of the United States. In fact, 77% of the wealth in America belongs to people over 50.


• While "Boomers" represent barely a quarter of the US population, they own 57% of vacation homes, and 58% of rental property.

With the majority saying that they want to be near a "body of water", this means that North Carolina can expect a 4.5 million populatition increase, concentrated on the coastal area in the next two decades -- quite remarkable, considering that it took over two centuries for North Carolina to reach it's current population of approximately 8 million!

The Boomers are fueling the demand for housing in Eastern North Carolina, making it one of the safest real estate investments in the country.

Local New Bern News - Market Update

This column is customized each month so that I can share with you, the current monthly statistics. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions - Email

HOMES SOLD (Closed), February 1 through February 28.
(From NB Board of Realtors MLS System)

Under $100K = 13
$100K-$159,999 = 40
$160K-$199,999 = 36
$200K-$239,999 = 20
$240K-$299,999 = 13
$300K-$399,999 = 10
$400K - $499,999 = 4
Over $500,000 = 4
Total = 140

Neighborhood - SALES:

Neighborhood - FOR SALE:

For the BEST Internet Marketing, and the Most Responsive Service in New Bern, Contact DIANNE! DDunn@NewBernHomes.com (252) 636-3301 or Toll Free: (888) 781-8800

2nd Major Airline Carrier Coming to New Bern!

When you've come from a major city, as I did over ten years ago, you're accustomed to direct flights that take you just about anywhere! Although the smaller, quaint cities like New Bern have their charm, it's been an adjustment making travel arrangements.

The Craven County Regional Airport constructed a new and larger terminal building about 3 years ago. US Air has been the only major carrier since Midway left in the late 90's. There are several daily jet shuttles to Charlotte, NC, where passengers can then continue on to their final destinations. Last year, US Air started weekly jet flights directly to Philadelphia on Sundays.

Delta Airlines recently announced that they will be providing daily flights from New Bern to their hub in Atlanta, beginning in May 2007. That opens up much more accessibility to New Bernians, who are traveling south!

We're looking forward to having a choice!

Comments? - Please feel free to Email me

Where's New Bern?

That's exactly what most of my friends from Northern Virginia asked me, when we moved here in 1996 -- "Where is New Bern?"

Eastern North Carolina has been a well-kept secret for many years, and we have watched it grow tremendously over the past ten years.

Many of the northern retirees and "semi-retirees" are discovering our beautiful historic city, located at the tip of two rivers: The Trent River (fresh water and trout fishing), and the Neuse River (salt water) and nearly a mile wide at New Bern!

New Bern is located approximately 30 miles west of the Atlantic, and about 110 miles East of Raleigh. New Bern was the first Colonial capital of North Carolina, and has several Civil War landmarks.

"Brad's Drink", which was created by Caleb Bradham in this pharmacy building, was marketed as Pepsi-Cola after 1898!

Today, New Bern is host to nationally syndicated boat races, the home of more than a dozen public and private golf courses, the choice for a retirement home or a second home, for thousands of people from all over the country, and was officially designated All-America City in 1989.

We love it, and we've made it our home!