A waterfront estate on a private peninsula in Cornelius sold for $15.25 million in July 2026, setting a new Charlotte-area record for the most expensive home ever sold.

The property at 20221 Regatta Island Drive, tucked at the end of the Pointe Regatta community off Bethel Church Road, sits on 2.7 acres jutting into Lake Norman. The 12,400-square-foot house features five bedrooms, seven full bathrooms, two half-baths, an eight-car garage, a saltwater pool and spa, a covered boat dock and a Savaria Eclipse elevator.

The sale topped the previous record of $15 million set in May when the Quail Hollow Club estate of the late LendingTree CEO Doug Lebda sold at full asking price, according to the Charlotte Business Journal.

Listing agent Lori Ivester Jackson of Ivester Jackson Christie's brokered the deal. Jackson told SouthPark Magazine in late July that the sale smashes North Carolina records set earlier in 2026.

The home was originally listed for $18.99 million, meaning the buyer paid roughly 20% below asking price, according to Mecklenburg County real estate records cited by Queen City News. The buyer is an LLC that uses the property's address as its business name.

The land itself changed hands for $4.35 million in 2021, when K&W Cafeterias sold the parcel to the Richard W. Ruby Trust. The new construction that followed turned a $4.35 million lot into a $15.25 million estate in roughly five years.

A three-home lakefront estate on Hollen Lane in Mooresville could surpass the new mark. That property returned to the market in July at $19.5 million after a year-long hiatus, the Charlotte Business Journal reported. If it sells at or near asking price, the Charlotte-area record would reset again.