The 10 Best Places To Buy A House In New Jersey For 2022


Using science and data, we can tell you which places in New Jersey have seen home prices rising and people flocking over the past year.

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Editor’s note: This is not investment advice and we are not financial advisers. Article updated for 2022.

There's a the age old question everyone thinks about when they decide to move to a city in New Jersey:

Should I buy a place or rent? Well, we aren't here today to solve that problem for you exactly. We are just assuming you'll do the right thing and a buy a place. And while we are happy to tell you the best place to live in New Jersey, this analysis is going to tackle the question of the best place to buy a house as an investor. That is we are going to try and determine the up and coming cities in the Garden State.

To do that we are going to look at places in New Jersey that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average. In every day terms, the "deals". The best deal in New Jersey at the moment? That would be Hight according to our analysis.

Here's a look at the top ten places to buy a home in New Jersey for 2022.

What's the best place to buy a home in New Jersey for 2022? According to our analysis, would the the ideal place to buy a home looking into the future.

The methodology that wen't into this can be a bit complicated, so we'll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below. If you're not worried about finding a deal on good places to live, check out the most expensive places to live in New Jersey and, for those of you on a budget, the cheapest places to live in New Jersey.

For more New Jersey reading, check out:

The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In New Jersey For 2022

1. Hight

Source: Public Domain
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,334
Median Home Price: $284,400
Population Change: -0.8%
Home Price Change: 0.6%
More on Hight: Homes For Sale | Data

2. Englewood Cliffs

Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 5,349
Median Home Price: $1,086,600
Population Change: -0.4%
Home Price Change: 9.0%
More on Englewood Cliffs: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

3. Union Beach

Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,362
Median Home Price: $296,100
Population Change: -0.5%
Home Price Change: 10.3%
More on Union Beach: Homes For Sale | Data

4. Somerdale

Somerdale, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Famartin | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

8
/10

Population: 5,479
Median Home Price: $178,000
Population Change: 0.6%
Home Price Change: 4.4%
More on Somerdale: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

5. Belmar

Belmar, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Fabioj at English Wikiped | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

8.5
/10

Population: 5,613
Median Home Price: $605,500
Population Change: -0.2%
Home Price Change: 0.9%
More on Belmar: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

6. Oceanport

Oceanport, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Mr. Matté (if there is an | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

9
/10

Population: 5,715
Median Home Price: $527,300
Population Change: -0.2%
Home Price Change: 1.4%
More on Oceanport: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

7. Mount Arlington

Mount Arlington, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

9.5
/10

Population: 5,751
Median Home Price: $325,500
Population Change: 2.0%
Home Price Change: 6.7%
More on Mount Arlington: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

8. Norwood

Norwood, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Adam Moss | CC BY-SA 2.0
Overall SnackAbility

7
/10

Population: 5,789
Median Home Price: $629,900
Population Change: -0.4%
Home Price Change: 0.5%
More on Norwood: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

9. Little Silver

Little Silver, NJ

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 5,817
Median Home Price: $709,600
Population Change: -0.5%
Home Price Change: 10.4%
More on Little Silver: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

10. Fair Haven

Fair Haven, NJ

Source: Wikipedia User Apc106 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

10
/10

Population: 5,833
Median Home Price: $772,200
Population Change: -0.7%
Home Price Change: 5.5%
More on Fair Haven: Photos | Homes For Sale | Data

Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in New Jersey for 2022?

We were in real estate for almost five years and have been working on this site for another three. Suffice is to say, we've put a lot of thought into what goes into finding a good place to buy a home.

So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we'd approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in New Jersey. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in New Jersey with undervalued homes relative to pent up demand.

Best Places To Raise A Family In New Jersey

To do that we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2016-2020 and compared it to the previous vintage (2012-2016). Specifically, we used the following criteria:

  • Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
  • Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
  • Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It's still kinda cheap)

We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still "cheap" for New Jersey with the following caveats:

So of the 0 cities and towns in New Jersey, only 187 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.

We then ranked each place from 1 to 187 for the criteria mentioned above with 1 being the best for that criteria. We averaged the rankings to create a "best place to buy" index with the place having the lowest index being the best. You can download the data here.

Turns out that Hight is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Garden State.

Read on for more on these places.

Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In New Jersey for 2022

There's our analysis of the best places to buy a house in New Jersey. And, to be clear, we aren't necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.

In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.

So if we'd could rent or buy in these cities, we'd definitely buy.

For more New Jersey reading, check out:

Home Prices By City In New Jersey

City Rank Median Home Price Population Change Home Price Increase
Hight 1 $284,400 -0.8% 0.6%
Englewood Cliffs 2 $1,086,600 -0.4% 9.0%
Union Beach 3 $296,100 -0.5% 10.3%
Somerdale 4 $178,000 0.6% 4.4%
Belmar 5 $605,500 -0.2% 0.9%
Oceanport 6 $527,300 -0.2% 1.4%
Mount Arlington 7 $325,500 2.0% 6.7%
Norwood 8 $629,900 -0.4% 0.5%
Little Silver 9 $709,600 -0.5% 10.4%
Fair Haven 10 $772,200 -0.7% 5.5%
Woodcliff Lake 11 $840,100 0.1% 3.4%
Manasquan 12 $691,500 0.1% 1.8%
Roseland 13 $516,500 0.1% 6.5%
Prospect Park 14 $280,100 -0.2% 5.2%
Jamesburg 15 $276,100 -0.8% 3.4%
Paulsboro 16 $127,000 -0.4% 14.3%
Morris Plains 17 $540,900 2.4% 4.5%
Margate City 18 $490,400 -1.3% 1.4%
Old Tappan 19 $779,300 0.2% -1.4%
Watchung 20 $726,000 0.0% 7.6%
Carlstadt 21 $403,200 -0.3% -1.3%
Rockaway 22 $347,900 -0.6% 0.9%
Wharton 23 $291,700 -0.2% -2.6%
Washington 24 $202,400 -0.2% -5.6%
North Caldwell 25 $739,500 0.4% 0.2%
Barrington 26 $189,400 -0.6% -3.0%
Linwood 27 $283,200 -0.3% -2.3%
Allendale 28 $699,100 -0.1% -7.6%
Rumson 29 $1,200,600 -0.5% 2.4%
Mountainside 30 $637,400 0.5% 1.8%
Stratford 31 $180,900 -0.0% 1.0%
Mil 32 $333,800 -0.4% -2.7%
Keyport 33 $284,300 -0.4% 7.6%
Palmyra 34 $175,400 -0.4% 0.1%
Dunellen 35 $283,000 -0.5% 0.1%
Midland Park 36 $497,500 -0.2% -3.1%
Haddon Heights 37 $284,300 0.1% -1.1%
Berlin 38 $238,300 0.1% -0.4%
Glen Ridge 39 $651,100 -0.0% -0.4%
Emerson 40 $532,200 0.1% 8.2%
Bernardsville 41 $655,300 -0.5% -3.8%
Butler 42 $366,000 -0.1% 3.0%
Fanwood 43 $495,700 0.3% 6.0%
Raritan 44 $361,400 -0.4% 5.2%
West Long Branch 45 $454,900 0.0% 1.4%
Newton 46 $221,900 0.3% 4.6%
Caldwell 47 $464,300 0.0% -0.5%
Bloomingdale 48 $320,300 -0.1% 5.6%
Northfield 49 $226,100 -0.8% 1.3%
Oradell 50 $642,300 -0.2% 4.4%
Kenilworth 51 $356,800 0.3% 3.3%
Upper Saddle River 52 $956,600 -0.2% 8.0%
Spotswood 53 $307,800 -0.2% 0.9%
Haledon 54 $274,500 -0.3% 1.0%
Runnemede 55 $163,000 -0.2% -0.3%
Bogota 56 $335,400 0.2% -0.2%
North Haledon 57 $423,200 -0.1% -2.9%
Absecon 58 $192,900 1.3% 0.8%
Boonton 59 $406,300 1.3% 5.2%
Montvale 60 $612,600 0.6% -1.1%
Closter 61 $689,100 -0.2% 2.2%
Audubon 62 $223,200 -0.1% 4.9%
Clayton 63 $208,100 0.7% 5.3%
Matawan 64 $349,700 -0.6% -0.2%
Cresskill 65 $680,500 0.0% 0.4%
Park Ridge 66 $604,500 -0.5% 2.6%
Brigantine 67 $362,100 -1.2% 2.2%
Chatham 68 $807,900 -1.0% 8.3%
Pitman 69 $189,700 -0.2% 2.2%
South Amboy 70 $321,800 1.1% 9.3%
Wood-Ridge 71 $443,600 2.8% 7.7%
Leonia 72 $522,000 -0.3% 3.1%
Hackett 73 $283,700 -0.5% 3.4%
Maywood 74 $396,000 -0.4% 1.7%
Keansburg 75 $197,200 -0.4% 1.9%
East Rutherford 76 $381,000 1.3% -0.0%
Woodbury 77 $165,600 -0.2% -0.5%
Burlington 78 $167,500 0.3% 3.8%
Kinnelon 79 $599,400 -0.7% 5.0%
Ventnor City 80 $260,800 -1.0% -4.6%
Waldwick 81 $462,200 0.7% 3.0%
Manville 82 $267,400 -0.4% 2.1%
Lincoln Park 83 $344,400 -0.4% 4.1%
Somers Point 84 $219,500 -0.7% -0.9%
Bound Brook 85 $273,000 -0.3% -0.3%
Hillsdale 86 $567,200 -0.3% 0.2%
Pine Hill 87 $135,000 -0.2% -1.4%
Little Ferry 88 $363,900 -0.2% 10.5%
Totowa 89 $370,300 -0.2% -0.2%
Pompton Lakes 90 $324,700 -0.3% 7.3%
Franklin Lakes 91 $1,009,800 0.9% 6.8%
Ocean City 92 $573,400 -0.6% -0.1%
Westwood 93 $458,300 -0.2% -1.1%
Ridgefield 94 $471,400 -0.2% 6.5%
Gloucester City 95 $130,600 -0.2% 3.8%
Beachwood 96 $235,700 0.4% 1.8%
Guttenberg 97 $307,300 -0.3% -4.9%
Haddonfield 98 $534,000 -0.0% 4.4%
Bellmawr 99 $169,400 -0.2% 1.0%
River Edge 100 $523,900 0.1% 0.6%
Download The Entire New Jersey Ranking Data

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About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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