9 Luxury Homes in the Outer Banks Tumble Into the Ocean

Nine homes collapsed into the ocean this week on Hatteras Island, NC, after they were slammed with rough seas churned up by two hurricanes that passed hundreds of miles offshore.

Eight of the homes were in Buxton, in the middle of the barrier island, and one was 25 miles north in Rodanthe. One house in Buxton was even caught live on Fox Weather as it tumbled into the surf.

The houses, perched precariously on stilts, crumbled because of pounding waves left in the wake of Hurricanes Imelda and Humberto.

Beaches were shut down and services turned off as debris floated into the ocean or was pushed back into neighborhoods.

"It’s a messy situation right now," John Robert Hooper, the owner of Lighthouse View Oceanfront Lodging in Buxton, told Coastal Review.

"We are implementing emergency cleanup activities to protect these federal lands and waterways and to prevent continued impact from the spread of debris," Dave Hallac, superintendent of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, told the outlet.

While this particular spate of collapses started on Tuesday, the first home that tumbled into the surf on this barrier island happened in May 2020. In total, 21 homes have fallen into the ocean since then, according to Dare County.

Homes on the market

Currently, there are 50 active listings on Hatteras Island, with a median list price of $650,000, according to Realtor.com data.

Local agent Misty Gillikin, of Realty ONE Group OBX in Nags Head, tells Realtor.com that one of her listings, on South Tower Circle Road in Buxton, will be taken off the market for now, as it has become inaccessible.

"There's no steps and no services to the house right now," she says. "I'm going to take it off the market so it's not just sitting there."

She notes that the nearly 30-year-old, five-bedroom house, listed for $825,000, was not always in such a precarious position.

"There was a lot more beach back in the day when these homes were built," she says. "Slowly but surely, the beach shifted. As of recently, it seems to be shifting at a higher rate."

In 1997, when the house was built, Gillikin says there was a platform and two staircases to access the beach, along with a wide stretch of sand. None of that exists anymore.

"It's completely shocking," she says.

Shocking but not uncommon. Many of the homes built in Buxton and Rodanthe in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s used to sit several rows back from the shoreline, but now they stand in the ocean, says Dare County.

However, Gillikin looks at the bright side.

"There's 50 miles of oceanfront," she says. "And these two little areas that are vulnerable. There's still lots of beach and lots of visitors. It's still busy here."

She notes that even homes at risk of being swept away by the ocean can still make a pretty penny in rentals during the summer.

How to save the homes—and the ocean?

Currently, the costs for relocation, demolition, or even cleanup fall solely on the homeowner, says Dare County.

Because of the high cost of relocation, most owners—many of whom do not live in the area full time—simply wait until the house collapses into the ocean, at which point, they can file an insurance claim.

However, the claim is capped at $250,000 for the structure itself and a maximum of $100,000 for its contents, says the county.

Homeowners are also responsible for the cost of cleaning up any resulting debris that ends up in the ocean or on the beaches.

But Cape Hatteras National Seashore often "helps" with cleanup, given that "owner-initiated cleanup efforts have not always adequately restored beaches."

Beyond hoping that owners relocate or proactively demolish their homes, the county implemented a pilot program in 2023 in which the National Park Service purchased two threatened oceanfront properties in Rodanthe that were then demolished before they could collapse into the ocean.

A $40 million proposed plan to "renourish" the beach by trucking in extra sand was deemed too expensive, according to Dare County.

A team of geologists has suggested buying out all 80 at-risk property owners in Rodanthe.

"It would be less expensive to buy those properties and tear them down, than it would be to try and hold the shoreline in place in front of them,” Western Carolina University professor Robert Young, who grew up in the area, told 10 WAVY.com.

In 2024, North Carolina Congressman Greg Murphy introduced the Preventing Environmental Hazards Act, which would give homeowners insured by the National Flood Insurance Program greater flexibility to tap into funds.

"Homeowners should not be forced to wait for their home to cause an environmental hazard before the National Flood Insurance Program is implemented," he said in a release.

The bill has not come to a vote yet.

The future of oceanfront homes

Homes being whisked away by Mother Nature will not slow down, say environmental experts, and pretty much any location near the sea is at risk.

"The recent loss of homes in Buxton Beach, NC, offers a stark preview of what’s to come for many coastal communities along the Eastern Seaboard," Jeremy Porter, chief economist at climate risk assessment firm First Street, tells Realtor.com.

Nantucket, for instance, has seen multimillion-dollar homes sold at shockingly steep discounts as beach erosion eats not only into the shoreline but also into home values.

On Cape Cod, a buyer snapped up a three-bedroom cottage in Eastham for $395,000—half the median price in the area—because it sits a mere 25 feet from an eroding bluff.

These types of steep discounts could soon hit the Outer Banks.

"In Buxton alone, the number of properties at risk of flooding is projected to increase by nearly 40% over the next three decades," Porter says.

"For those already in harm’s way, the frequency and severity of flooding will continue to intensify. What we’re witnessing is a direct consequence of a shifting climate, and areas that were once safe and suitable for development are becoming increasingly unstable as sea levels rise and storm patterns evolve."

Despite all this, Dorothy Hester, public information director with Dare County, tells Realtor.com, "There are no new building restrictions."