November 2026 Market Update

The Shore Has More Homes for Sale Than Any October Since 2020

October data for Cape May and Atlantic Counties · By Adam D'Annunzio, Broker Associate

There were 2,119 homes for sale across the South Jersey Shore, Cape May and Atlantic Counties, at the end of October. That's up 9.8% from 1,929 a year ago and the most for any October since 2020.

Owners aren't listing much more than usual. New listings across August through October were about even with last year. Inventory is building because fewer homes are going under contract. October averaged 7.33% on the 30-year fixed, the highest monthly average since November 2023. Rates have come down three weeks in a row since, to 7.18% on November 5.

October 2026 data, pulled November 10. The October contract count will rise as late entries post.

What's Happening in the National Housing Market Right Now?

There were about 1.18 million homes for sale nationally in October, up 7.4% from a year ago. Homes under contract were down 10.7%. The national median list price was $415,000, down 2.2% from last October and the 12th month in a row below the year before. About one in five listings, 20.5%, took a price cut.

The sold side is still positive. The national median sale price in September was $370,122, up 2.8% from a year earlier. The job market held up better than expected: October payrolls rose 165,000, unemployment was 4.1%, and August and September were revised up a combined 84,000.

×

Are Mortgage Rates Coming Down?

The 30-year fixed averaged 7.33% in October, up from 6.86% in September. Since then the weekly reading has dropped three weeks in a row, to 7.18% on November 5. A year ago it was 6.22%.

Mortgage rates follow the 10-year Treasury, and the 10-year came down first. It averaged 5.13% in October and was 4.86% on November 6.

×

The Fed held at 3.75% to 4.00% on October 28. The vote was 10 to 2, and both dissenters wanted another quarter-point hike. Inflation was 3.7% in September. For the December 9 meeting, futures markets price a 100% chance of a hike: 87% for a quarter point and 13% for a half point (CME FedWatch, November 10). A week earlier that was 77%.

How Is the Cape May and Atlantic County Housing Market Doing?

The 2,119 homes for sale at the end of October is the most for any October since 2020, when there were 2,475. It holds in both counties: Atlantic County had 1,159 homes for sale and Cape May County 960, each the most for an October since 2020.

×

That's still about half of what was on the market before 2020. In October 2019 there were 4,063 homes for sale and 5.5 months of supply. Today's 4.5 months puts the shore in balanced territory (4 to 6 months), not a buyer's market.

Fewer homes are going under contract. 397 did in October, against 517 a year ago, and the gap has widened every month since summer:

Naturally, the newest month will move. Last month I reported 443 September contracts, down 23%. With late entries, September is now 490, down 15%. If October fills in the same way, it lands near 430, still about 16% below last year. August through October together are down 14.3%.

Closings followed. 510 sales closed in October, down 17.3% from 617, and most of those were contracts written in August and September. Showing activity doesn't point to a collapse in buyers, though. Over the last 13 weeks, showings across New Jersey fell 18%, in line with the 17% average fall for the same weeks in 2022 through 2025.

October 2026 vs. October 2025. Cape May County includes Ocean City and Upper Township; its median is a blend of two systems weighted by sales. October 2026 contract counts are preliminary.

Which Shore Towns Are Bucking the Trend?

Brigantine went the opposite way from the shore. It has 78 homes for sale against 93 a year ago, supply fell to 3.1 months from 3.9, and it closed 36 sales at a median of $837,500, up from $669,000 last October. Egg Harbor Township is at 2.9 months and wrote 40 contracts against 38, one of the few towns with real volume that matched last year.

Ocean City closed 59 sales at a median of $1,400,000, and the homes that sold went under contract in a median 14 days, down from 21 a year ago. Contracts were 43 against 65, though, and homes for sale rose to 221 from 201. The Wildwoods closed 62 sales at 99.2% of asking price but wrote 30 contracts against 46.

Margate (69 for sale vs. 99), Avalon (41 vs. 50), Linwood (36 vs. 45) and North Wildwood (79 vs. 90) also have fewer homes for sale than a year ago. The inventory is piling up in Cape May Court House (72 vs. 35) and Mays Landing (105 vs. 68). Ventnor is at 6.0 months, and buyers there paid 95.2% of asking price.

Which Shore Towns Have the Least Inventory?

Are Home Prices Dropping at the Jersey Shore?

August through October prices are running 3.4% ahead of the same three months last year. October alone came in at a blended median of about $697,000, up 6.2% from about $656,000, and Atlantic County's median was $435,000, up from $417,500. Buyers paid 98.4% of asking price. One month's median moves with what happened to sell, so the three-month number is the better read.

I pulled every October closing in the shore towns I cover, 363 sales, and compared each one to its original asking price. The typical home sold for 97.1% of it, and 66% sold below it.

In other words, the price cut isn't what cost those sellers. The starting price did. September looked the same: 12 days at 98.8% versus 75 days at 91.3%. On an island home listed at $1.2 million, about the October median for the island towns, that's roughly $1,194,000 priced right versus $1,089,000 after a cut, about a $105,000 difference.

×

Should I Wait for Lower Mortgage Rates to Buy a Shore House?

On a $700,000 house with 20% down, principal and interest on a $560,000 loan:

Three weeks of easing took about $57 a month off the October average. It's still $418 a month more than February. That being said, there are more homes for sale than any October since 2020, and if rates drop further, the buyers who sat out the fall come back at the same time you do. In my professional opinion, buy when the right house and the numbers line up, and refinance if rates give you the opening. More on the outlook in where mortgage rates are headed in 2026 and 2027.

Is Now a Good Time to Sell a Shore Property?

• Know what you're competing against before you set a price. In Cape May Court House, Mays Landing and Ocean City there are more homes for sale than a year ago. In Brigantine, Margate and Avalon there are fewer. More on why the price should be the last decision when selling in the fall.
• Price it right on day one. October homes that never cut went under contract in 14 days at 99.6% of their original price. The ones that cut took 77 days and gave up about 9%.
• Expect a slower winter. Contracts are running 15% to 23% below last year, and my read is that November and December closings will come in below last year too.

Is It a Good Time to Buy a Shore House in New Jersey?

• More choice. 2,119 homes for sale, up 9.8%.
• More room to negotiate. 66% of October sales closed below their original asking price.
• The good ones still go fast. Well-priced homes went under contract in a median 14 days. The room is on the homes that have been sitting.

The Bottom Line

The shore went into the off-season with 2,119 homes for sale, the most for an October since 2020, and 4.5 months of supply. Fewer homes are going under contract, not more owners listing. Prices on what's closing haven't followed, and rates have eased a little since mid-October.

The live numbers for every town are on my market dashboard, and past updates are in the monthly market report archive.

About this data: Local figures come from the South Jersey Shore MLS and the Cape May County MLS (single family, condo and townhouse, plus twins in Cape May County), pulled November 10, 2026. October 2026 contract counts are preliminary. National figures: Realtor.com and Zillow. Mortgage rates: Freddie Mac via FRED. Fed odds: CME FedWatch. Price comparisons to original asking price: my own count of October closings from both MLSs.

Adam D'Annunzio is a Broker Associate with Keller Williams Realty Jersey Shore and has worked exclusively in the South Jersey Shore market since 2012, specializing in waterfront properties, second homes, and condos from Brigantine and Margate through Ocean City, Sea Isle City, Avalon, Stone Harbor, The Wildwoods, and Cape May.