We hope that all is well with you! February was pretty mild here, with only a little bit of snow - Spring is coming! Last weekend, Ed took part in the Seaside Polar Bear Plunge to raise money for Special Olympics. The water was about 41 degrees, but the event raised over $2,500,000! Over the last month, there has been an uptick in listings - some of these are brand new listings, others are properties that have been on the market before. More details on that below.
Other News
In a recent conversation, the documentary about Mantoloking, "Mantoloking - A People's History, came up - if you have not already seen it, you can watch it here. It covers several decades of Mantoloking's history, including live interviews, old photographs and film, and more.
Mantoloking reports that service costs for garbage and recycling are going up, and that the industry is trending away from "back door pickup" due to cost and logistics. The current contract runs through September 2025, but they are exploring other options. Other towns, including Brielle, have run into this trend, and there, curbside pickup is offered at no charge, but to continue back door pickup requires an annual fee. It is likely that more towns will be making similar changes.
Beach renourishment for Ocean County (including Bay Head and Mantoloking) continues to be delayed - the Army Corps has not yet awarded a contract and will likely be going out to bid again sometime this year. The original bidding process resulted in all bids being rejected due to the fact that they were too high. As a result, this summer should be "safe" - eg - no beach replenishment work in 2024. We will share further updates as we have them.
If we offered updates via text messaging (storm updates, news, flooding, photos, videos, etc.), would you sign up? Please click here to let us know.
Meetings and Events
- March 4th, 7:00pm, Bay Head Council Meeting
- March 7th, 6:30pm, Mantoloking Planning Board Meeting
- March 19th, 5:30pm, Mantoloking Council Meeting
- March 20th, 6:30pm, Bay Head Planning Board Meeting.
Market
Since our last update, inventory has increased slightly in Bay Head and Mantoloking. There are three brand new listings, and three that were on the market last year, and have now been relisted. Of all of these, 36 Howe Street, Bay Head is probably the most interesting - it last sold for $4,100,000 in September of 2022, and is now on the market for $4,800,000. It will be interesting to see what happens to it. Another new listing is 1066 Barnegat Lane, Mantoloking, a bayfront located on a double lot, asking just under $10,000,000. So far, none of these recent listings have gone under contract.
For further insights and market statistics, please visit our blog to read our February Market Update.
Equity Reports and Home Values
If you are curious about your home's value, you can find three AI generated values here, but if you'd like, we'd be happy to send you an equity report, showing your purchase price, and any appreciation since then, a computed market value, and other details (just reply to this email).
Local Photos and Videos
A selection of Ed's local photos from the last month can be found here. You can see some of our recent videos on our Youtube channel (and you may want to subscribe to our channel for future updates). Ed also recently published a book of some of his Bay Head and Mantoloking photos - if you'd like to know more, please send him an email.
Please reply to this email with your questions.
Thank you, be well, and Spring is coming!
Suzie and Ed
All statistics are per Monmouth/Ocean MLS as of 2/26/24.
