Does a Long Beach Township Median Describe Anyone's House? Reading a Listing Median and a Sold Median

Why is the sold median so far below the listing median?

The Realtor.com listing median is $2,695,000 and the sold median is $1,882,500. The sold figure is 30% below the listing figure. The listing median rose 7.84% on the year while the sold median fell 6.58%, which implies a sold median of about $2,015,000 a year earlier and a listing median of about $2,499,000.

The gap has a plain cause. The homes that list and the homes that sell are not the same homes. The island report says that 71% of the 125 homes for sale are priced at $2 million or more, and that the average asking price per square foot, about $1,245, is above the roughly $1,093 per square foot at which August homes closed. Higher-priced homes take longer to sell, so they pile up among the listings.

The island report gives the other side. Contracts under $3 million are down on the year, 48% under $1 million, 21% from $1 million to $2 million and 12% from $2 million to $3 million, while contracts above $4 million are up 50%. The sold median is a mix of those segments, and the mix shifts from month to month.

The three-year figures show a calmer picture. Over three years the listing median rose 17.30% and the sold median 17.84%, nearly the same, and the price per square foot rose 23.68%. Over one year they split, which suggests that the year-on-year gap owes more to the mix of the last twelve months than to a change in the value of any one house. That is this brief's reading, and the page does not say it.

The second update says it directly. The median sale price fell from $2,150,000 in July to $1,850,000 in August, and the author says that this should not be read as home values falling by the same amount, because the mix of homes that close changes a monthly statistic. A seller who sees a median should ask which homes it covers.

Source: Realtor.com and two island reports as cited. The 30% gap and the implied earlier medians of about $2,015,000 and $2,499,000 are this brief's arithmetic from the published changes. The reading that mix explains the gap follows the second update and the first report's figures, and is not a statement of Realtor.com. Commercial content; not independently verified.

Does the table of areas describe one place?

The neighborhood table lists homes for sale in nine areas: Long Beach Island 67, Bungalow Park 27, North Inlet 23, Mystic Islands 9, Heritage Point 8, Loveladies 2, North Beach 2, Atlantic City Estates 1 and Marina District 1. The sum is 140. The headline count is 115. The table is 122% of the headline.

The medians that go with it are far apart. Long Beach Island is $2,595,000 at $1,153 per square foot, Loveladies is $5,149,000 at $1,250, Holgate is $2,499,999 at $1,130 and North Beach is $2,299,000 at $1,101. Mystic Islands is $581,950 at $392, Heritage Point is $499,500 at $266, North Inlet is $364,900 at $277 and Bungalow Park is $295,000 at $141. The highest median is 17.5 times the lowest.

The second group of areas has prices per square foot that are 64% to 89% below the island areas. Several of the names, including Mystic Islands, Atlantic City Estates, Marina District, Historic Smithville and Oceanville, are not names of places on the island itself, and the page does not explain why they sit in a table for Long Beach. This brief does not guess at the boundary. It reads the table as a sign that the page's Long Beach blends the island with other places, and that its citywide median is a blend as well.

The island report supports the point. Its figures cover Long Beach Island alone, with a median close of $1,949,000, 125 homes for sale and 71% of them at $2 million or more. A page whose headline count of 115 includes 27 homes in Bungalow Park at $295,000 is not describing the same market. A seller on the oceanfront should look at the island's numbers and a seller on the bay side should look at the nearest sales, and neither should lean on the blended median.

Source: Realtor.com page as cited. The sum of 140, the 122%, 17.5 times and 64% to 89% figures are this brief's arithmetic. The remark on the names is this brief's observation of the table and not a statement of Realtor.com. Holgate shows a median of $2,499,999 at $1,130 and no homes for sale and is omitted from the rows. Commercial content; not independently verified.

What does the island report say about waits and discounts?

Realtor.com gives a median of 59 days on market, down 11.94% on the year and down 23.38% on three years, and homes sold 2.86% below asking. The island report gives a different picture. Active listings average 101 days on market, with a median of 74, while the median days to contract in August was 24 against an average of 65. The second update gives a median cumulative days on market of 61 in August, up from 48 in July.

The pace is split. Of the 38 homes that went under contract in August, 15 did so within two weeks of listing and 11 had been on the market for more than 90 days. The report's own examples are a home listed at $2,999,000 that closed at $3,475,000, 115.9% of the ask, within 5 days, and a home that waited 126 days and closed at 90.7% of ask. Two homes in the same month and the same island had a spread of 25 points in the ratio of sale to ask.

The average close was 95.9% of asking in August, the third month in a row near 96%, and the second update puts it at 95.7%. The island report says that nearly a third of 2026 closings sold at or above ask, and that the discount is concentrated in older listings. Of the 36 homes listed under $2 million, 17 have cut their price, 47%, at an average cut of 5.8%.

A seller can read the market two ways. A home that is priced where buyers will meet it can sell in days and above the ask. A home that is priced above that point can wait a season or more and close 4% to 10% below. The date and the price are linked, and an owner who wants a fixed date has to price for it.

Source: Realtor.com and two island reports as cited. The 25 point spread is this brief's arithmetic (115.9 minus 90.7). The reports are brokerage commentary and were not independently verified.

What does the Census say about a place where four homes in five are vacant?

The postal area that includes Long Beach Township has 6,837 residents and 16,714 housing units. Only 3,310 of the units are occupied. The Census counts the other 13,404 as vacant, which is 80.2% of the stock. Among the occupied homes, owners hold 3,028, 91.5%, and renters 282, 8.5%.

The Census does not say why homes are vacant in the tables used here, but in a shore town the likeliest reason is seasonal use, since homes that are kept for summer and left empty the rest of the year count as vacant at the time of the survey. This is this brief's inference. The practical meaning is that most of the buyers and sellers of these houses are second-home owners, who may live far away and visit a few weeks a year.

The median household income is $120,054 and the owner-estimated median home value is $1,165,400, with a margin of error of $34,868, or 3.0%. The sold median of $1,882,500 is 1.6 times the Census value, and the listing median is 2.3 times it. The median gross rent is $1,917, which is far below what the shore market charges for summer weeks, since the Census counts year-round leases.

Renters are few. With 282 renter households in the postal area, and only 3 rental properties on the Realtor.com page, there is almost no year-round rental market to fall back on. An owner who cannot sell cannot easily turn the house into a stable lease, and a summer rental is a different business with its own seasons, agents and taxes. That is one reason a fixed sale date has value to a second-home owner, who may not want to carry a house through another winter of heating, insurance and storm risk.

The stock is mixed in age. The median year built is 1976, 8,951 homes, 53.6%, were built before 1980 and 4,455 homes, 26.7%, were built in the 2000s or later. The island report says that new construction is driving the market above $4 million. An older house, by contrast, may need a roof, windows, wiring, a bulkhead or storm work, and a buyer's inspection will say so.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 and Realtor.com as cited. Multiples, shares and gaps are this brief's arithmetic. The remark on seasonal use and on repairs is this brief's reasoning and not a statement of the Census. The 4,455 figure adds the 2000s, 2010s and 2020 or later counts.

Who buys at each price, and when does the season help?

The island report gives sales through August by price bracket, and the pattern is plain. Total contracts were 243 against 280 a year earlier, a drop of 13%. Under $1 million there were 14 against 27, from $1 million to $2 million 97 against 122, from $2 million to $3 million 69 against 78, from $3 million to $4 million 30 against 31, and over $4 million 33 against 22. The market is shrinking at the bottom and growing at the top.

Cash decides more as the price rises. Through August there were 105 cash purchases and 108 financed ones. Under $1 million the split was 5 cash and 12 financed, from $1 million to $2 million 35 and 50, from $2 million to $3 million 32 and 30, from $3 million to $4 million 16 and 11, and above $4 million 17 and 5. Above $4 million, cash is 77% of the purchases in the report's table. A financed buyer needs an appraisal, an inspection and a lender's approval, and each of them is a step at which a price can be reopened.

The calendar matters too. The report says about 30% of the island's yearly contract activity falls from September to the end of the year, and that September has historically added 54 to 76 new listings. A seller who lists in September meets the summer's unsold homes and a new wave of listings together. The report's own advice is that pricing correctly from the first day matters more than the season, and that a contract signed in the fall can close before winter.

Entry-level supply is thin. The report counts only eight active listings under $1.5 million on the whole island and four under $1 million. A seller with a house in that range has few competing listings, which is why homes under $2 million go under contract faster than any other segment in the report, yet 17 of the 36 homes listed under $2 million have already cut their price. The report's explanation is that the cuts come from asking prices that began above where buyers would meet them.

For an owner, the point is that the island is several markets under one name. The oceanfront new-construction buyer pays cash and moves fast, the bay-side buyer is price-sensitive, and the owner of an older house in between waits and negotiates. The Realtor.com median blends them all. Readers comparing markets can also read the Ocean City brief and the Paramus brief.

Source: Island market report as cited. The 13%, 77% and the counts of contracts and purchases are the report's figures or this brief's arithmetic from them (17 of 22 is 77%). The remark that the island is several markets is this brief's reading. Commercial content; not independently verified.

What should an owner ask, and what does a private sale change?

An owner can test any offer, public or private, with plain questions. What is the price, and is any part of it conditional on an inspection, a loan or the sale of another home? What will I take home after every charge? When will the sale close, and can the date move? Who pays for the repairs a buyer asks for after an inspection?

A shore home has more. Which recent sales are true comparables for my side of the island, my lot and my age of house? How many days did they wait, and how far below the ask did they close? Is my home priced where the first two weeks will find a buyer, or where it may sit for 90 days? What would I pay in taxes, insurance, utilities and upkeep if the sale runs through the winter?

Maison Off-Market buys homes directly from their owners. It does not list a home, hold showings or put a home on a public listing. For a Long Beach Township owner, the five benefits are plain. There are no showings and no neighbors talking about the sale. The closing date can be flexible, which gives time to find a new home. There are no commission costs and no closing costs for the seller, and there are no inspections and repairs.

A little arithmetic shows what that is worth. Each 1% of a $1,882,500 sale is $18,825. A seller who gives up 3% gives up $56,475, and one who gives up 5% gives up $94,125. This brief does not claim that those are the costs of any sale, since the real figures depend on the agreement the seller signs. It shows how quickly a percentage becomes a sum, and how it compares with a 4.1% average gap between asking and closing.

Privacy and time suit second-home owners best. An owner who lives hours away can avoid weekends of showings and a summer of open houses, and can pick a closing date after the season. Maison Off-Market speaks only to sellers. An owner who wants to see what a direct offer would look like can use the contact form below, or call 401-219-4207, and ask for a figure with no showings, no listing and no obligation.

Source: Maison Off-Market and the island report as cited. The fee figures and the 4.1% gap (100 minus 95.9) are this brief's arithmetic and not claims about any sale. The questions are this brief's general reasoning and not statements of any source.

Methodology and limitations

Prices, price per square foot, days on market, listing counts and the neighborhood table come from a national listing site page for Long Beach with key indicators as of June 2026. Contract counts, closings, discounts, days on market, cash and financing splits and listing counts for the island come from two brokerage reports using Bright MLS data for August and September 2026. The sources cover different areas and months and are not independently verified.

Age, tenure, vacancy, income, rent and owner-estimated value come from the American Community Survey 2020-2024 five-year estimates for the postal-code area that includes Long Beach Township. Shares are calculated from published counts, and owner-estimated value carries a margin of error.

No regional series is used, since no published series was verified to match the county. Implied earlier values and shares are this brief's arithmetic from published figures. The brief makes no forecast and values no home.

Conclusion

The Long Beach Township record shows a listing median of $2,695,000, a sold median of $1,882,500, 115 homes for sale on one page and 125 on another, a table of areas that spans 17.5 times in price, and a Census stock that is 80% vacant. It describes a market of second homes and new construction in which a blended median describes few houses.

It does not fix a price for any one home. The choice between a public listing and a private sale comes down to whether an owner would rather meet showings, inspections and a repair list or take privacy, a flexible closing date, no commission, no closing costs and no inspections or repairs. To see what a direct offer would look like for your home, use the contact form below or call 401-219-4207.