North Carolina city with lake access and expanding housing market
Huntersville shares Mecklenburg County with Charlotte, 14 miles south. Over 60,000 people live in the city, making it one of the largest municipalities in the county. Residents and visitors take in the natural beauty of nearby Lake Norman and the surrounding greenspaces. “It’s very friendly,” says Kristin List, Realtor for Allen Tate Realtors in Huntersville and resident of almost 30 years. “The neighborhood I live in, we can walk to a restaurant or coffee shop, and it’s normal for people to stop to chat or wave at people on bikes.”
Huntersville was originally called Craighead in honor of a local minister, but the name was changed to Huntersville for Robert Boston Hunter, a prominent landowner and farmer before the town was incorporated in 1873. Brand-new railroads and booming textile mills caused a wave of new businesses, and the city continued to grow with new housing and commercial centers. “My family has been here since the 1800s,” says Kathy Jones, a lifelong resident. “It’s not a small town anymore. People move here because they like the proximity to Charlotte, and it’s just a beautiful area with Lake Norman.” While it’s not a small town anymore, residents can still get that rural feel on the edges of town.
Today, subdivisions branch out from the city’s center, while more affluent neighborhoods line Lake Norman. Truly an outdoor-loving community, folks regularly bike or walk along the city’s expanding tree-covered greenway or sail the waters of Mountain Island Lake in the southern part.
Private docks are another amenity of the luxury homes on Lake Norman in Huntersville.
Townhomes bring affordable housing options to more residents of Huntersville.
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Working in Huntersville or Charlotte
Charlotte Mecklenburg School District is the biggest employer locally because it serves the entire county, while Novant Health follows closely behind. More than 800 employees work for Metrolina Greenhouses, a family-owned business that serves around 1,400 garden centers and operates the largest single-site heated greenhouse in the nation. McGuire Nuclear Station is owned by Duke Energy and has a location on Lake Norman with fishing access and a science museum open to the public. Being so close to Charlotte, some Huntersville residents commute along Interstate 77 to the financial hub for work. They get the quieter lifestyle Huntersville offers while working in the second-largest banking city in the nation.
Downtown Huntersville centers around the town hall and the Discovery Place Kids-Huntersville science museum with a few small businesses filling low buildings. A new town center is currently under construction behind the existing building, but city officials plan to build even more. By 2030, the Huntersville Town Center will be a mixed-use property with housing, retail space and better transportation.
McGuire Nuclear Station is operated by Duke Power Company on the outer edge of Huntersville.
Discovery Place Kids, in Huntersville is a very popular place for kids.
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High housing demand with low inventory, and new houses on the way
The median home price is $530,000, above the national median of $417,000 reported by the National Association of Realtors. However, List says people are willing to pay for a property in Huntersville. “Right now, the city is trying to keep up with the growth since there are more buyers out there looking than homes available,” List says. “The inventory's been low the last few years, and I think it’s because people are sitting on low interest rates and don’t want to move.”
In the north, Birkdale Village is a mixed-use center with townhouses that sell in the high $500,000s and single-family properties that reach into the mid $700,000s. In the eastern part of the city, Vermillion features Craftsmans that range between $400,000 and $675,000. Larger, five-bedroom New Traditional homes ranging between $500,000 to $850,000 are closer to the city’s western edge, near Lake Norman and Rural Hill Nature Preserve; these properties tend to sit in cul-de-sacs with access to community pools, paved walking trails and golf courses in NorthStone Country Club. Some lake-front homes and New Traditional Craftsmans in Huntson Reserve sell for over $1 million.
Over the past year, the city approved new housing developments like Whitaker Point and Edgewood Preserve, which are set to bring in over 200 new homes. The Honeycutt-Brown subdivision is still in the planning phase but was approved by the city to construct a development in the middle of town. In 2023, the Huntersville Board of Commissioners approved a new 70-acre mixed-use development called Town 1 financed by NASCAR champion and native of the area, Joey Logano. The construction company aims to build nearly 750 multi-family homes near the intersection of Hambright and Mt. Holly-Huntersville Road, and a portion of the homes will be affordable housing units for foster families.
Impressive large brick homes bring a touch of luxury to Huntersville.
Residents can be close to everything Huntersville has to offer with a townhome.
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From CMS schools to Davidson College
Huntersville is served by Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, which scores a B-plus from Niche. North Mecklenburg High, which gets a B-minus, is one of Huntersville's largest high schools and the only CMS school to offer three magnet programs: International Baccalaureate, Technical Institute and a World Languages Academy. All three were awarded a Magnet Schools of America Distinction in 2023. Through these programs, students can study specialties like the culinary arts or cosmetology or languages including Chinese and German.
Davidson College and Central Piedmont Community College — Merancas Campus offer higher education for the city. Davidson was established in 1837, and today, it ranks among the top colleges in the nation, particularly for its financial aid process. It was the first liberal arts college to replace loans with financial aid through grants and student employment to fill any gaps in student finances.
Hopewell High School serves students in the Huntersville community.
Davidson College, a prominent, private college is located just minutes from Huntersville.
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Greenways, public parks and Lake Norman
One of the city’s most beloved attractions is The Vine, a greenway system with 4 miles of paths and 3 miles of dirt ways. Residents can walk or bike downtown, in Torrence Creek and along Lake Norman’s northern border. “Huntersville has a lot of outdoor, rural areas, and I think that’s one thing people really like about it,” says Cyndi Bartley, operations and marketing director for Visit Lake Norman, a nonprofit organization. “People will see lots of tree canopies and grassland when they drive around town.” Mecklenburg County plans to expand its greenways in multiple cities, and as a result, Huntersville hopes to grow The Vine system by 10 miles within the next four years. The goal is to create more sidewalk connections and a 20-mile loop around the lake, along with connecting trails to other cities like Cornelius and Davidson.
For more relaxed fun, Veterans Park holds the Huntersville Growers’ Market every Saturday in April through August, with live music, vendors and locally grown produce. In the winter, there's the popular Huntersville Tree Lighting and Holidays in Huntersville event, when thousands fill the park to see the dazzling Christmas tree and enjoy time with friends and family. The 50-mile-long Lake Norman is a man-made lake that attracts millions of visitors each year. Visit Lake Norman sponsors fishing tournaments at the lake, like the Carolina Bass Challenge at Blythe Landing, the largest boat launch. The area gets busy, especially every summer, with anglers, jet skiers and paddle boarders. The smaller Mountain Island Lake is just a few miles south. After an afternoon of boating and swimming, visitors can learn about the care and rehabilitation of native birds of prey at the Carolina Raptor Center in the massive Latta Nature Preserve.
Local history buffs love Hugh Torance House — North Carolina’s oldest surviving store and one of the county’s few surviving 18th-century structures — which offers group tours of the site and sells local artisan wares. Every month, the house hosts HEARTS (History, Ecology, Arts, Reunion, Trails and Store) events where volunteers dress in traditional 1700s clothes and give presentations on the city’s historical roots while visitors enjoy art exhibits and live music. Another well-known historical site is Hunter House and Garden, built in 1913. The Colonial Revival-style farmhouse has a farm-to-table restaurant and venue for weddings and family gatherings.
The Vine provides a safe, enjoyable 0.9-mile walk or ride near downtown Huntersville.
Large loading docks make a day on Lake Norman fun and easy at Blythe Landing Park.
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Shopping and hanging out at Birkdale Shopping Center
Birkdale Shopping Center is the city’s shopping and cultural hub, where brick sidewalks lead past dozens of retail clothing stores, businesses and local restaurants, all within roughly four blocks. The Birkdale Village connects to the center, giving nearby residents easy paths to the commercial hub. Birkdale also holds Red Rocks Cafe, a popular steakhouse with only one other location in Charlotte. A local mother-daughter team owns Apricot Lane, a boutique franchise with clothes, gifts and accessories, while Girl Tribe Co is a Charlotte-based store that sells apparel designed and printed in Charlotte. NorthCross Shopping Center has 60 stores and restaurants, including Old Navy and BaoBao: Dim Sum & Authentic Chinese Cuisine. Pinky’s Westside Grill, off Gilead Street, was featured on Food Network’s "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives."
For over 30 years, The Carolina Renaissance Festival has brought millions of visitors to Huntersville for jousting tournaments, open-air markets and theatrical shows. The eight-week event has grown since its debut in 1994, and now it’s one of the nation's largest fairs. Lake Norman becomes Loch Norman during the Loch Norman Highland Games every April. The town of Rural Hill calls upon its Scottish roots for a weekend of seven traditional events to test the strength of each participant. Musicians play bagpipes, and vendors serve traditional dishes like sticky toffee pudding and haggis.
Birkdale Village is a large area with lots to offer for visitors and residents of Huntersville.
Red Rocks has been a staple in Huntersville, always a great choice.
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Easy connections to Mooresville and Charlotte
I-77 flows through the city and connects to Interstate 485 in the south, creating easy access to Charlotte. Folks can catch a ride on the Charlotte Area Transit (CATS) buses that stop near Main Street and I-77 or schedule a ride with North Meck Village Rider buses. Biking is popular along the greenway system in the city, but most people drive to get around. Traffic leaving Charlotte around 5 p.m. is almost always congested, so the North Carolina Department of Transportation announced in 2023 plans to design a new four-lane highway that will span Mecklenburg, Lincoln and Cabarrus counties. The 22-mile project will improve the I-77 interchange near Birkdale Village by widening state Routes 73 and 16, and construction is set to begin in 2026. Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center is about a mile west of downtown, and Concord-Padgett Regional Airport is about a 10-mile drive on state Route 115. Charlotte Douglas International Airport is 14 miles south of the city.
There's 2 separate Park and Ride stations for commuters in Huntersville.
Huntersville has access to every major interstate in the Charlotte area.
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Educating local kids on public safety
According to Crime Grade, Huntersville's crime rate is far below the national average. There were 1.33 violent crimes reported per 1,000 residents in 2022, while the national median is 4. The Huntersville Police Department encourages locals to form community watch groups that meet regularly, and they offer community programs like Safety Town, a four-day event where kindergarten-aged kids learn about bus, fire and stranger safety all within a miniature town set-up. The department also puts on Summer Camp, where elementary school kids spend time with officers in arcades and parks and learn about drug prevention and anti-bullying tactics.
In 2022, researchers from Duke and Appalachian State universities found coal ash particles within Mountain Island Lake, seemingly from Duke Energy company's now retired Riverbend coal-powered plant nearby. According to an article in the Charlotte Observer, the research at the time didn’t determine a risk to people or wildlife in Huntersville. Still, the general public called for more action. The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation reached a settlement with Duke Energy to evacuate six coal ash sites throughout North Carolina. A release from Duke Energy notes the two basins near Lake Norman were excavated in 2019, and The Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation stated water from Mountain Island Lake is monitored and treated.
Huntersville families can enjoy the amphitheater at popular Birkdale Village.
A new hospital is under construction in Huntersville.
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Written By
Rylee Doyle
Photography Contributed By
Justin Stapp
Video By
Ellie Brown
Interested in learning more about homes in this area?
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GreatSchools:
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On average, homes in Huntersville, NC sell after 46 days on the market compared to the national average of 49 days. The median sale price for homes in Huntersville, NC over the last 12 months is $561,500, up 8% from the median home sale price over the previous 12 months.
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