For homeowners along the state's nearly 130 miles of coastline who bought at the peak, it's rough news. But for those thirsting to call the beachfront home, it's a buyer's market.
Visiting the Jersey Shore was a courtship ritual for Kraig and Katharine Eaton, consultants from Glen Mills. After they married, they took their children for regular weekend getaways to Katharine's parents' house on Long Beach Island.
"When they sold it, the thought of not being on the island was too much to bear," said Kraig Eaton, 38, noting that at the time, nothing was available for less than $1 million. "As housing prices came down, we found ourselves able to afford it for the first time."
After searching for six months, the Eatons closed on a vacation home in Avalon in September 2009, paying in the high six figures for a condo less than two blocks from the beach. They spend about a weekend a month there in the off season, and rent it out during peak months to recoup some of the expense.
Other new homeowners made the switch from renting at the Shore.
"We weren't even looking. We were riding our bikes and we just saw something," said John Holland, who had been renting a one-bedroom bungalow on Long Beach Island for three years, unable to find a home for sale within his budget.
Holland and his girlfriend, Lauren Rhatigan, bought a home in Ship Bottom in March for $340,000. These days, Holland, a personal trainer, carries his surfboard the few blocks to the ocean to enjoy the waves.
