Bay Head & Mantoloking Today™ – May 2023

Hopefully, you’ve had a good spring, and are looking forward to the summer!

If you have not been up to the beach in Bay Head recently, you’ll see that many access points now have new benches, donated by local families – thank you!

The market remains active, but with limited inventory, and most of the recent activity has been under $2,000,000.  We just had a transaction in which a full price cash offer was accepted with in 24 hours of putting the house on the market, as it worked out, we represented both the owner and the buyer, and the sale closed quickly.

A client recently asked how many homes come on the market in the summer. That was a great question, that we didn’t immediately have the answer to, so we looked it up.

The number of homes listed in Bay Head and Mantoloking between Memorial Day and Labor Day (approximately), looking back 5 years: 2018: 16, 2019: 17,  2020: 32, 2021: 18, 2022: 12.

The spike in 2020 is no surprise (the pandemic), but the other numbers are pretty consistent!

You can find our May market update here.  Additional news can be found below the video.

Bay Head’s Memorial Day Remembrance: Saturday, May 27th, 9AM, in front of borough hall.  The presentation will include the unveiling of the town’s new monument, honoring Bay Head’s five Fallen Heroes.

Property/Deed Fraud: As you may know, property/deed fraud is on the rise – this takes place when criminals attempt to fraudulently sell a property, place a lien against it, or similar activities.  Often, their goal is to obtain the funds involved in such a transaction, and the owner may not know, until it becomes an issue.  Most counties now offer registries to allow property owners to help guard against such risk.  Here is a link to Ocean County’s service. You may also want to talk to your attorney, lender, or other advisor as to how to further protect yourself against this sort of fraud.  We are also happy to discuss this topic with you.

Beach Replenishment: We are told that the Army Corps of Engineers received a small number of bids that were all higher than predicted.  They may rebid, or they may try to negotiate with the lowest bidder.  Regardless, the project has been delayed further.

Bay Head Cell Phone Tower:  Work continues to place a permanent cell phone tower at Bay Head’s public works yard.  We are told that all carriers have signed the necessary agreements, but no installation date has been set yet.

Flood Mitigation: Both towns are working to control their respective flooding issues.  Bay Head is discussing various solutions to control flooding, including a floodgate on Scow Ditch.  Mantoloking is considering an ordinance to require higher bulkheads along the bay, to reduce the likelihood of them being overcome in a storm high tide.

Hurricane Season: Though hurricanes can come in almost any mild season, the official hurricane season starts June 1st.  Some recommendations from NOAA on how to stay safe can be found here.  NOAA plans to announce its 2023 Hurricane Outlook on May 25th.

Town Wide Garage Sale: (Bay Head, Mantoloking, Point Pleasant Beach) – This Saturday, May 20th, 9 to 3.  Rain date is Sunday, 5/21.

Local Sushi: If you enjoy sushi and other seafood, here are some of our nearby favorites.

Local Photos: A selection of Ed’s local photos from the last couple of months can be found here.

Thank you to those who died in service to our country, please honor and remember them, and have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend!

As always, if you have any questions, please ask.

We hope to see you soon!

Suzie and Ed