Summer on LBI is officially here, and this past week felt like the real kickoff. We had two of the biggest events of the year back-to-back with HopSauce and the Lighthouse International Film Festival, and both absolutely crushed it. Everywhere we went, people were talking about how good they were.

HopSauce packed Bay Village with a great crowd, live music, craft beer, hot sauce, and some perfect weather. Meanwhile, the film festival took over the island all week, with screenings, events, and people bouncing from town to town catching films.

One thing that's become impossible not to notice is how much the Lighthouse International Film Festival has grown. Somehow it gets bigger every year. More films, more people, more buzz. The weekly pass seemed to be one of the best deals on the island, not just because of the screenings but because of all the extra events and dining experiences tied into it. It's become a really cool part of the island's culture and something a lot of people look forward to every June.

We've been wanting to do this for a long time, so we're excited to finally share it: the Best of LBI 2026 winners are officially here.

More than 5,000 ballots were submitted across 21 categories, and the results are now live. A huge thank you to everyone who voted. We all have our opinions about where to eat, grab a drink, get breakfast, or spend a night out, so it was a lot of fun seeing how everything shook out. Check out all the winners here →

We're already looking forward to doing it again next year.

And we're not done. Next week we'll be releasing our Top 10 Foods on LBI list, which should spark a few debates.

Over the past week we also got a sneak peek inside a couple of the island's newest businesses, and we'll be sharing those videos on Instagram over the next few days.

First up is Pixie in Barnegat Light, followed by Get Roasted in Ship Bottom. We sat down with the owners, got a look inside the businesses, and learned a little about what they're building. Keep an eye on @lbi_locals for those.

One last thing worth mentioning. We stopped into Triton after the beach last weekend, and their happy hour was outstanding. It's quickly become one of our favorite post-beach spots. Grab a drink, order a few things from the raw bar, sit outside, and relax before heading home or getting ready for dinner. It's exactly the kind of place you want to stumble into after a day on the sand.

And don't forget, The 18 lands in your inbox Friday morning with everything happening around the island this weekend.

Beau

June has been active, and the real story this month is inventory. After a quieter stretch, a meaningful wave of fresh listings has hit the market, including a few coming-soon new-construction homes that we think are genuinely intriguing. Last week alone we saw 13 new listings come on and 7 homes go under contract.

Looking at the same June 1–17 window each year, new listings this June (28) are up sharply from last June's 18 and among the strongest we've seen in recent years. For buyers who spent the spring frustrated by thin options, that's real, new supply finally coming online.

There's a bigger shift behind this worth pointing out. LBI used to be a spring and fall market, and listing in June was discouraged. The conventional wisdom was that you'd missed the spring window, so the smarter move was to sit tight and wait until August to catch the fall buyers. That logic no longer holds. Summer activity has picked up meaningfully over the last several seasons, and June is now a strong time to bring a home to market, not a reason to wait.

Most of this new supply is landing up the price scale. The $2M–$3M band is the single most-listed range on the island this June, roughly 70% of the new listings are priced at $2M+, the median new listing is sitting near $2.5M, and about a third are new construction, which is a big part of why those coming-soon new builds are worth watching.

Encouragingly, buyers are right there with it. 60% of the homes that went under contract this June were priced at $2M or higher, compared to about a third last June, the $2M–$3M band has pulled even with $1M–$2M for the most contracts, and the median home under contract has jumped to about $2.45M, up from roughly $1.4M a year ago. In short, the new supply is arriving right where demand is strongest.

If you've been thinking about listing, the takeaway is simple: there are active buyers right now, June is no longer a season to wait out, and well-positioned homes, especially in that upper-middle band, are finding their buyers. As always, feel free to reach out with any market-specific questions.

Drew