Long Beach Island Market Recap - May 2026
Despite historically low inventory, the LBI market posted strong sales results this May, with 38 closings at a median sale price of $2,000,000 and a sale-to-list ratio of 97.4%
Market Summary
May brought a mixed but overall encouraging picture for the LBI real estate market. New listings came in below expectations at 43 for the month, trailing the five-year average of 53, which kept inventory tighter than buyers would have liked heading into the summer season. On the closed sales side, however, momentum continued to build. Closed transactions climbed to 38, up from 26 in April and 20 in March, landing right in line with the five-year average of 36. When new inventory is provided it gets quickly absorbed.
Pricing told a more nuanced story. The median sale price for May was $2,000,000 and the average was $2,407,000. Three transactions closed under $1M in the same month, which is notable, and those pulled the median down relative to recent months where there was less starter home activity. Still, the sale-to-list ratio held strong at 97.4%, up from 96.6% in April, a signal that sellers are pricing well and buyers remain engaged.
The range of activity in May captured the full breadth of the LBI market. The top sale was a $6,631,650 oceanfront in Haven Beach, featuring 75 feet of water frontage. On the other end, the most affordable closed transaction was an $835,000 oceanblock single family home in Ship Bottom on a 30x100 lot.
Average sale price has risen 58% since 2021, from $1.56M to $2.47M, with steady gains every single year. The multi-year view tells a clear story. Every year since 2021 has seen inventory compress, with 2026 tracking well below all prior years through May. The seasonal shape is consistent across every year — inventory builds through summer, peaks in the Sep/Oct range, then falls off through winter — but the absolute level keeps dropping. 2026's May reading of 146 is the lowest May on record in this dataset by a wide margin.
