What's Going On On The Island

Happy St. Paddy's Day 🍀 — for those looking to celebrate, there are local festivities happening today at The Port Hole, Nardi's, Kubel's, and more across the island. If you're still craving some Irish fare after today, Neptune Market is hosting a St. Paddy's Day dinner this Thursday.

As we move deeper into March, the island is slowly starting to come back to life. March 23rd marks opening day for some of LBI's most loved spots, including Okie's and Birdy's Café, with another wave of seasonal openings expected in early April.

There's also some exciting news on the business front — LBI's first craft distillery, LBI Distillery, is officially opening its doors to the public this Friday. Known for producing their own vodka, rum, and gin in-house, they're launching a true craft experience with house-made juices, fresh ingredients, and a rotating cocktail menu. With a distillery-style license, guests can bring or order food, making it a unique new addition to the island's growing food and drink scene. Hours will start Fridays 5–9pm and weekends 12–9pm. For full details, check out our Instagram post.

Looking ahead, tickets are now on sale for the Hop Sauce Festival on June 13th — one of LBI's biggest events and the unofficial kickoff to summer. Hosted by the Jetty Rock Foundation, the event supports our local community and coastal environment. You can grab tickets here.

Beau

What's Going On In Real Estate

This past weekend marked a significant shift — buyers finally came out of hibernation and were out in droves. Open houses were packed for the first time this season, and we saw a noticeable surge in showings across the island.

At the same time, inventory is finally starting to move in the right direction. 17 new listings hit the market this past week, bringing total inventory up to 117 active homes — a welcome change after an extremely tight start to the year.

On paper, contract activity hasn't caught up just yet. We saw only 3 homes go under contract, with 2 appearing to be off-market deals — sharing the same list and contract date and never publicly marketed. That said, the shift in buyer activity suggests this number should increase significantly in the coming weeks.

Expect that momentum to translate quickly — a wave of properties should begin to leave the market soon as buyers re-engage heading into spring.

One of the more interesting storylines will be pricing. As deals begin to close, we'll get a clearer picture of how much the market has shifted from fall to spring. Based on deals we're currently negotiating, attractive homes appear to have seen a few percentage point increase, reinforcing that we're still operating in a low inventory, high demand environment.

That said, not everything is moving. We're still seeing listings come to market 10%+ overpriced, and it will be telling to see how serious those sellers are. This time of year, some investors take a "nothing to lose" approach — listing high in the spring market and pulling the property before the summer rental season if it doesn't trade.

Drew