Here’s what made this ‘unpolished gem’ N.J. Shore home sell for $250K over

It came down to supply and demand when a lagoon-front home in Point Pleasant was listed for sale in July.

The more than 3,000-square-foot contemporary, built in 1988, had four bedrooms, two full- and one half-bathroom.

“I advertised it as a gem waiting to be polished,” said Robert Booth of Keller Williams Realty Ocean Living, the listing agent.

That’s because the kitchen and bathrooms were all original. The outside had a new bulkhead, a new deck and a new pool liner, he said, but whoever bought the house could easily spend $200,000 updating the inside.

“It needs updating and I didn’t want to hide that from anybody,” Booth said.

But the size of the home and its location on a wide area of the lagoon where “you could spin a boat around easily,” Booth said, and being in a sought after neighborhood made the unpolished gem highly sought after.

It got 15 offers and sold for $250,000 more than it’s $1,150,000 asking price. It closed Sept. 25 for $1,400,000.

“We priced it a little lower to bring in some higher offers,” Booth said. “I think it’s the location and scarcity that still drives prices up.”

The section of Point Pleasant where the home is located is known as Bay Head Shores. “It’s considered a little bit of a higher end area,” he said.

It has an optional beach association residents can join with its own clubhouse, beach, lifeguards and pickleball courts.

Only a few homes in the neighborhood have been listed for sale this year, Booth said.

“It’s a very desirable area,” said Brian Rock, of Ward Realty, who represented the buyer. “You can go a couple of months and not have anything for sale there.”

The lagoon provides easy access to Barneget Bay, he said, plus the home has a pool.

Prices have come down for homes in Point Pleasant Borough and Brick that are away from the water, Rock said. “But nice, waterfront homes with a pool are still going to drive the market and their prices are still rising, actually.”

Are you an agent, buyer or seller who is active in this changing market? Do you have tips about New Jersey’s real estate market? Unusual listings? Let us know.