Local report: Business is booming in my NJ beach town

Gaius · 2024-07-06T14:21:44.550Z

Condos 2-8 units per assoc. is what most people think of when they think of property in my town today.
Last year the price would have been $850k-$950k

image620×612 111 KB

.
.
.

Maybe you should take a drive down here.

Home prices are definitely coming down here.

Bungalows starting at $360k
Nice homes for just under $800k

image1728×878 325 KB

image1917×949 379 KB

Toll_Collector · 2024-07-06T14:24:09.375Z

Yeah I know. I lived in the beach town of Manasquan for 6-7 years. My Aunt rented me the house cheap. It was about 5 blocks from the beach. It’s a small house in disrepair, and she sold it for almost a million dollars recently.

Gaius · 2024-07-06T14:26:58.683Z

Toll_Collector:

Manasquan

Mansaquan is still N Jersey if only technically.
Different people, different atmosphere.

Ya gotta get south of Barnegat to be in S Jersey
(and of course, skip over AC, which is a planet all its own.)

Gaius · 2024-07-06T14:39:42.294Z

Eagle-Keeper:

NJ is by far the most populated state per square footage, and is growing.

Late Obama era, two major things happened to change the local real estate scene. One was that summer rental became so profitable that all the owners moved inland.

Used to be: live in one unit, rent-out the other 1-5.
Now: live inland and rent-out all of them.

In a short period every owner occupant was looking to by a house inland and ithad a very substantal impact on prices. (And now the place is REALLY like a ghost town in winter.)

Supreme_War_Pig · 2024-07-06T14:41:21.813Z

Fake news. We all know the economy is too bad for anybody to take a vacation. And those that do somehow make it are killed by illegal immigrants.

Gaius · 2024-07-06T14:52:23.128Z

Could be anything.

Could be homeowners enjoying their 3.5% rates and taking more vacations
–or–
Could be “We can’t afford the vacation we want so we’ll just go to Wildwood.”

Toll_Collector · 2024-07-06T15:30:18.413Z

LOL, I used to go to Wildwood because that was the vacation I wanted. A 6 pier boardwalk (is that still the same?), great beaches, and 5 million hotels to choose from. The only time I deviated from that was when I went to Bermuda. Which was the same flight time it took me to drive to Wildwood from north Jersey. I mean exit 140 north jersey.

Toll_Collector · 2024-07-06T15:31:31.017Z

Gaius:

Toll_Collector:

Manasquan

Mansaquan is still N Jersey if only technically.
Different people, different atmosphere.

Ya gotta get south of Barnegat to be in S Jersey
(and of course, skip over AC, which is a planet all its own.)

It absolutely is north Jersey. I don’t believe in a central Jersey. It’s north or south. Exit 98 is freaking north Jersey.

Gaius · 2024-07-06T15:38:35.371Z

Boardwalk has gotten a little neglected.
Still two really good piers and the crowds are much smaller.
Here was never cheap but some of the cheap stuff, (mini golf, go karts) are gone or nearly gone.

It all comes with a higher portion of summer residents vs weekly renters

Best time is still September

Toll_Collector · 2024-07-06T15:46:04.455Z

Gaius:

Boardwalkhasgotten a little neglected.
Still two really good piers and the crowds are much smaller.
Here was never cheap but some of the cheap stuff, (mini golf, go karts) are gone or nearly gone.

It all comes with a higher portion of summer residents vs weekly renters

Best time is still September

That saddens me. What of the other 4 piers? Is it turning into seaside heights?

FreeAndClear · 2024-07-06T15:56:32.319Z

Toll_Collector:

Gaius:

Toll_Collector:

Manasquan

Mansaquan is still N Jersey if only technically.
Different people, different atmosphere.

Ya gotta get south of Barnegat to be in S Jersey
(and of course, skip over AC, which is a planet all its own.)

It absolutely is north Jersey. I don’t believe in a central Jersey. It’s north or south. Exit 98 is freaking north Jersey.

What do you mean you don’t believe in central Jersey? Monmouth county is where

Toll_Collector · 2024-07-06T16:25:55.818Z

FreeAndClear:

Toll_Collector:

Gaius:

Toll_Collector:

Manasquan

Mansaquan is still N Jersey if only technically.
Different people, different atmosphere.

Ya gotta get south of Barnegat to be in S Jersey
(and of course, skip over AC, which is a planet all its own.)

It absolutely is north Jersey. I don’t believe in a central Jersey. It’s north or south. Exit 98 is freaking north Jersey.

What do you mean you don’t believe in central Jersey? Monmouth county is where

I am still stuck in the 201 and 609 area codes. To me that is north and south. NJ is too small to add a central. I live in Monmouth county.

Guvnah · 2024-07-06T17:44:11.116Z

Toll_Collector:

I am still stuck in the 201 and 609 area codes. To me that is north and south. NJ is too small to add a central. I live in Monmouth county.

I grew up in Bridgewater. It started out as 201. Morphed to 908. We always considered Somerset County to be Central Jersey.

Toll_Collector · 2024-07-06T17:51:28.446Z

Guvnah:

Toll_Collector:

I am still stuck in the 201 and 609 area codes. To me that is north and south. NJ is too small to add a central. I live in Monmouth county.

I grew up in Bridgewater. It started out as 201. Morphed to 908. We always considered Somerset County to be Central Jersey.

I also lived In Basking Ridge from 19-26. It was what, a 15 minute drive to Bridgewater on 287? That’s definitely north Jersey. If you were 201, it’s north. Anyone can say they’re central Jersey, but north and south Jersey is very different. Central Jersey today is no different than north Jersey. That’s why I don’t consider it a thing. Location wise, yeah, it’s central.

Guvnah · 2024-07-06T17:57:00.664Z

Toll_Collector:

Location wise, yeah, it’s central.

Probably that’s pretty much it nowadays. Certainly NJ has changed since I escaped it over 40 years ago.

Camp · 2024-07-06T18:26:29.733Z

Pretty simple.

Here we go to Erie. Presque Isle State Park is pretty nice for us poor folks.

biggestal99 · 2024-07-08T00:15:59.424Z

Toll_Collector:

It absolutely is north Jersey. I don’t believe in a central Jersey. It’s north or south. Exit 98 is freaking north Jersey.

disagree. monmouth (long branch) is 100% central jersey.

Allan

Toll_Collector · 2024-07-08T15:52:47.154Z

biggestal99:

Toll_Collector:

It absolutely is north Jersey. I don’t believe in a central Jersey. It’s north or south. Exit 98 is freaking north Jersey.

disagree. monmouth (long branch) is 100% central jersey.

Allan

I agree with you. It is central Jersey geographically. But culturally it’s north Jersey. I grew up in north Jersey. The Maplewood/Irvington area. At one point I moved to south Jersey. Lacey Township. Now I live in Monmouth county. There is literally no difference between where I am now and where I grew up. Big difference from south Jersey.

biggestal99 · 2024-07-08T20:31:18.353Z

Toll_Collector:

I agree with you. It is central Jersey geographically. But culturally it’s north Jersey. I grew up in north Jersey. The Maplewood/Irvington area. At one point I moved to south Jersey. Lacey Township. Now I live in Monmouth county. There is literally no difference between where I am now and where I grew up. Big difference from south Jersey.

you cant live in a shore town in Monmouth county (not to out you). Long Branch and Maplewood? huge difference.

Allan

Publius · 2024-07-08T20:56:12.533Z

Eagle-Keeper:

Gaius:

Anyway business is booming this summer.
Last summer was m/l normal.
This summer, local retailers say their sales are up about 30%,
and that matches the fact that we have a traffic problem (rare, even in summer here.)

Well NJ is by far the most populated state per square footage, and is growing. When I drive around I consistently see more and more high density residential developments going up, largely townhome complexes (including 3 in my area). Decent economics, jobs, and people with money to spend. Regarding traffic, especially on the parkway, worst I’ve ever seen in my 60 years here! Every state and country has a limit on how many people it can comfortably hold, as far as I’m concerned NJ is already past that.

When you consider how much of Jersey is agricultural or undeveloped (like the Pine Barrens), the crowded parts are REALLY crowded. It’s a huge agricultural state.

We used to go to Ocean City (“America’s Greatest Family Resort”) in the summers, but not so much now that the kids are long grown up. That place has gotten really expensive. A dry town makes for a quiet town, though.

(Born in West Paterson (now called Woodland Park).)