4 South Jersey Shore Towns Among Nation’s Hottest Housing Markets

Several South Jersey Shore towns are on the list of the nation's hottest real estate markets, and two local towns have made it into the top 10 hottest markets in the country.

According to The Philadelphia Business Journals' latest analysis of first-quarter listing and sales data from Intercontinental Exchange Inc., this is a good time to own and sell a home in a South Jersey Shore town.

It is certainly not a good time to buy one unless you've got deep pockets. The days of the average middle-class family buying a property in a Shore town are gone.

Two Shore Towns in Nation's Top 10 Hottest Real Estate Markets

The last time I remember two local towns in the country's hottest real estate markets was when they were Avalon and Stone Harbor.

These numbers, from the first quarter of 2026, fluctuate based on the homes sold in that quarter when compared to one year ago. So you need the inventory of available homes being sold to make the list.

In the first quarter of 2026, it wasn't Avalon or Stone Harbor making the real estate headlines; it was Ocean City and Wildwood.

Ocean City placed as the fifth-hottest market, with the average sale price jumped 28% year over year to $1.81 million.  Ocean City home sale prices have more than tripled since 2019, when the average sale price was $585,477.

As impressive as that is, it was the Wildwoods that provided the biggest numbers surprise. Prices in the Wildwoods jumped an astonishing 124% from the first three months of 2026 compared to 2025, rising from $511,019 to $1.14 million.

Wildwood now ranks as the 10th hottest real estate market in America.

The PBJ found that Wildwood Crest and North Wildwood saw new homes asking $2.2 million.

Good Rankings for Other South Jersey Shore Towns

These first-quarter 2026 real estate numbers also show that two Atlantic County towns are in the nation's hottest 35 real estate markets.

Ventnor City ranked No. 21, and Brigantine followed at No. 33.

The average sale price in Ventnor City jumped 60% to $962,725 in the first quarter of 2026 from $598,027 the year before.