Toms River No. 1 New York Suburb For Home Sales In Pandemic

TOMS RIVER, NJ — If you think you've been seeing a lot more New York license plates around Toms River in the last year, you're not imagining it.

Remote work and a desire to get out in the fresh air drove thousands of New Yorkers out of the city to suburban homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The No. 1 place they’ve chosen to move to in the last year? Toms River.

An analysis of 2020 home sales compared to those for 2019 by the real estate group PropertyShark found that Toms River was the No. 1 suburb chosen among those moving out of New York City.

Ocean County and Fairfield County, Connecticut, were the two most popular counties for those leaving the city, according to the analysis, which ranked 30 suburbs of the Big Apple based on the increase in sales activity.

While Fairfield County had the most suburbs on the list, with 15, Ocean County came in second with seven towns seeing hot sales, including Brick, Jackson, Long Beach Township, Little Egg Harbor, Stafford and Berkeley townships, in addition to Toms River.

Brick and Jackson also ranked among the top 10 most popular New York City suburbs, with Brick coming in at No. 4 and Jackson rating seventh among homebuyers departing the city, according to the Property Shark analysis.

The focus has been on single-family detached homes, with buyers searching for homes with spaces that can be dedicated to offices or large yards with room to relax, a reflection of working remotely and being able to get outdoors because of social distancing.

Ocean County was popular for its affordability compared with other New York suburbs, according to Property Shark. The median sales price in Toms River was $330,000, and there were 2,576 homes sold in Toms River in 2020, an increase of 492 from 2019, the analysis said.

Brick Township had a median sales price of $305,500, with 1,968 sales up 339 from 2019, and Jackson had a median of $385,000, with 1,342 sales, up 257, from 2019.

By comparison, the median price of Fairfield, Connecticut, which came in second for increased activity, was $595,000, and the median price in Westport, Connecticut, was more than $1.22 million, according to the analysis.

Within New Jersey, Ocean County towns dominated the top five most active towns for purchases. Brick was second, followed by Jackson, Long Beach Township (165 more sales) and Little Egg Harbor (156 more sales in 2020). Stafford (120 more sales) was seventh and Berkeley Township (98 more sales) was ninth among the most active for sales.

The only non-Ocean County suburbs on the New Jersey list were Wayne in Passaic County, which had an increase of 137 sales; Middletown, in Monmouth County, which had 117 more sales in 2020, and Summit, which was 10th with 96 more sales.

Long Beach Township had the highest median price among the most active New Jersey suburbs, at $995,000.

In New York City, by contrast, home sales dropped by as much as 21 percent from 2019 to 2020, the analysis said.

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