Wilmington-based residential real estate firm Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage on Monday surpassed $3 billion worth of closed sales for 2021, officials said.

The milestone includes sales outside the tri-county Cape Fear region of New Hanover, Brunswick and Pender counties, with sales from Onslow, Carteret and Craven counties also part of the mix. The company has 22 offices in North Carolina.

The company announced in August that it had exceeded $2 billion in sales for the third year in a row. Most of the sales were of single-family homes, condos, townhomes and land. 

Tim Milam, CEO, gave Denise Kinney a lot of credit for the $3 billion milestone. Kinney became president of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage in May as previous president Milam moved into the CEO role.

“She’s done a phenomenal job of taking our company for the first time in history to $3 billion and 10,000 closed sides,” Milam said. “She’s also done a phenomenal job with our staff, our agents, our management and the public.” 

Kinney said one reason the achievement came about was because of a focus by her firm and agents on customer service and the fact that agents “handled the complexities that the market presented this year with the utmost professionalism.”

Those complexities included, of course, the ongoing challenges in showing properties and working in-person with clients and sellers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kinney said. On top of that was a lack of inventory of existing homes, particularly in lower price points, and issues with new construction, stemming from labor shortages and a disrupted supply chain for materials, she said. 

But Southeastern North Carolina remained a popular destination, and seemed to increase in popularity, for homebuyers, from retirees to young professionals working remotely. By comparison, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage had sold 8,900 units and had $2.3 billion in closed sales this time last year, Kinney said. 

Founded in 1988, the company currently has 815 agents and continues to grow, with the newest offices opening in Boiling Spring Lakes and near St. James in Brunswick County.

Kinney said, “We are continuously working to provide additional resources and tools to help our agents better serve their clients and this year’s achievements are a testament to the success of our efforts.”