Home Loans in Union Beach, New Jersey

Union Beach is the borough Sandy hit hardest — and the one that refused to leave. In 2012 the bay came through Front Street and damaged or destroyed a huge share of this small town's homes. What stands there now is a rebuilt borough: raised houses, new elevated construction along the waterfront, and a bay beach with the Manhattan skyline across the water — at prices that are still among the lowest on the Bayshore. For veterans especially, Union Beach is one of the last places in Monmouth County where a VA loan buys a bayfront life. The catch: inventory is tiny, and the right house doesn't wait. Sea View Mortgage is a Monmouth County lender, led by President / Loan Officer Philip Wallace, that gets Union Beach buyers — VA buyers included — fully documented before the listing appears.

Fast closings. Competitive rates. Easy files and hard ones.

Call (732) 443-4859 or start your pre-approval online today.

Get Pre-Approved Call (732) 443-4859

Why Buyers Choose Union Beach

Union Beach (07735, a ZIP shared with Keyport) is a borough of about 1.9 square miles on Raritan Bay in northeastern Monmouth County, tucked between Keyport and Keansburg along the Bayshore, with Hazlet and Middletown behind it. About 5,800 people live here — and after what this town went through in 2012, “close-knit” is not a marketing word.

What defines the town:

  • The bayfront. Union Beach's beach runs along Front Street — a wide, quiet stretch of Raritan Bay sand with open views to Staten Island and the Manhattan skyline. It's the borough's front yard: fishing, evening walks, and the baywalk that ties the waterfront together. No crowds, no badges-and-boardwalk machinery — just the bay.
  • A housing stock rebuilt by hand. Sandy devastated Union Beach — the surge destroyed homes outright and flooded most of the rest, and the borough's Memorial School was closed for months while its students scattered to schools in three neighboring districts. The rebuilding since has been house by house: hundreds of homes raised above the floodplain or rebuilt new and elevated, alongside federal and state work hardening the bayfront itself. Much of what sells here now is effectively newer construction.
  • One school, one town. The Union Beach School District runs a single school — Memorial School (PreK–8) — where the whole borough's kids grow up together. High school students attend Keyport High School, a few minutes west, under a sending arrangement in place for generations.
  • Small-town quiet, on purpose. Union Beach has no through-route and no downtown strip fighting for tourists — Union Avenue's local businesses serve the people who live here, and Keyport's Broad Street dining scene is five minutes away when you want it. Streets end at the bay.
  • The Bayshore's value line. In August 2026, Union Beach's median sale price was $450,000 — below Keyport's roughly $496,000, below Hazlet, and a fraction of Middletown's mid-$700,000s — for a borough that shares the same bay, the same skyline view, and the same stations a short drive away.
  • Access when you need it. Route 36 runs at the borough's southern edge, NJ Transit buses serve the corridor, and the Hazlet and Aberdeen-Matawan stations on the North Jersey Coast Line are a short drive — close enough for a daily commute, far enough that the town stays quiet.

The Union Beach Market at a Glance

Union Beach is a tiny market, and this page will treat it like one: in August 2026, the median sale price was $450,000 — on eleven recorded sales. Those sales closed at 101.8% of asking price, and listed homes were moving in a median of about 21 days. When a borough closes roughly a dozen sales a month, a single closing moves the median; what doesn't move is the pattern — homes here sell at or above asking, and they sell in about three weeks.

The number that confuses buyers is the list price. In fall 2026, Union Beach listings carried a median asking price of $699,000 — nearly $250,000 above the sale median. That is not a market contradiction; it's two different housing stocks. New elevated construction along the waterfront lists at new-construction prices, while the borough's existing homes — raised, renovated, or original — close in the $400,000s. Knowing which stock a listing belongs to, and pricing your offer off the right one, is most of the game here.

For financing, speed and certainty decide. With only about three dozen homes listed at any time, there is no deep bench of alternatives — when the right house lists, the buyers who win it are the ones whose documentation was finished before the listing went live. VA buyers win here regularly, because we remove every reason a seller might hesitate about a VA offer before the offer is made.

(Market figures: Realty.com housing market data from Monmouth Ocean Regional MLS and Monmouth County records, August–September 2026. Sales counts are very small — 11–12 a month — so treat any single median as a snapshot, not a trend line. Figures change monthly — talk to us about what your price range looks like today.)

Loan Options for Union Beach Buyers

  • VA loans — 0% down for eligible veterans and active-duty military, with no loan limit for buyers with full entitlement. Union Beach is one of the few Monmouth waterfront towns where a VA purchase at the borough's median is a realistic, ordinary transaction — we close them here.
  • Conventional loans — strong for buyers with solid credit and 5–20% down; on raised and rebuilt homes, conventional files move fast when the elevation paperwork is assembled early.
  • FHA loans — 3.5% down for qualified buyers; a common route into Union Beach for first-time purchasers at the borough's entry-level price points.
  • Raised and post-Sandy home purchases — buying a raised or rebuilt home? Elevation certificates, flood insurance, and appraisals on lifted homes need a lender who handles Bayshore files every week. We do.
  • First-time buyer programs — limited savings shouldn't keep you out of the Bayshore. We'll map the low-down-payment paths and what your monthly payment actually looks like — flood insurance included.
  • Refinancing and cash-out — already own in Union Beach? Ask us whether a refinance, or cash out for renovations, makes sense.

Loan Scenario: A VA Purchase in Union Beach, NJ

Illustrative scenario — the kind of transaction we structure in Union Beach.

  • The Property: A raised, rebuilt three-bedroom home on a residential street near the bayfront off Front Street in Union Beach, purchased for $500,000 — bought by an Army veteran and his spouse, relocating back to the Bayshore.
  • The Challenge: The sellers had two financed offers and a familiar hesitation about VA — worries about the VA appraisal and a slower close. Layered on top was the full Bayshore file: a raised home needing an elevation certificate and flood insurance quote, plus the wood-destroying-insect inspection VA requires in New Jersey. Any one of those, discovered late, becomes a closing-week crisis.
  • The Sea View Solution: We removed the hesitation before the offer went in: the veteran's entitlement and full file were verified up front, and we laid out the timeline for the seller's agent directly — VA appraisal ordered immediately at contract, elevation certificate and flood quote pulled in week one, termite inspection scheduled with the appraisal, and a 30-day close we committed to in writing. The VA offer became the most predictable offer on the table.
  • The Result: A VA loan structured with 0% down — a $500,000 loan amount at the full purchase price, with the VA funding fee of $10,750 financed for a total loan of $510,750 — cleared to close in 30 days, and a veteran came home to a house two blocks from the bay.

Ready to explore Union Beach real estate? Whether it's a raised rebuild near Front Street, new elevated construction on the waterfront, or a first home anywhere in the borough, your financing needs to be rock solid. Talk to a local Sea View Mortgage specialist today to get pre-approved.

Illustrative example based on the kinds of transactions Sea View Mortgage structures in Union Beach. Not a specific past transaction. All loans subject to credit and property approval.

Why Union Beach Buyers Choose Sea View Mortgage

  • We close fast. Underwriting and appraisal are handled locally from day one — not queued in a national pipeline — which matters in a market where listed homes move in about 21 days.
  • Competitive rates, without the big-bank runaround. Pricing that competes with the national names, and a loan officer who answers the phone — not a call center.
  • Easy files and hard ones. VA files sellers hesitate about, raised-home elevation paperwork, flood insurance priced late by somebody else, a deal another lender already turned down — hard transactions are where a local lender earns it. If there's a way to structure it, we'll find it.
  • Local, not a call center. We're a Monmouth County mortgage company. We know the Bayshore's flood maps and elevation issues street by street, which Union Beach blocks were rebuilt and which weren't, and the realtors and attorneys your transaction will involve.
  • You work with the owner. Philip Wallace, President / Loan Officer (NMLS #404069), still originates loans personally — your file isn't handed off to a stranger.
  • Pre-approvals that hold up. We verify income, assets, and credit up front, so when a Union Beach seller's agent calls to check your financing, the answer is yes — documented, not promised.

Get Started

Buying in Union Beach? The strongest first step is a real pre-approval — before you tour, before you offer.

Call Philip Wallace at (732) 443-4859 or start your pre-approval online.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I really buy in Union Beach with a VA loan and no down payment?

Yes. Buyers with full VA entitlement face no VA loan limit, and Union Beach's prices sit comfortably in VA range — 0% down purchases close here regularly. The VA funding fee can be financed into the loan (on a $500,000 purchase, the first-use fee is $10,750), and veterans with a service-connected disability are typically exempt from the fee entirely. We'll verify your entitlement and run your exact numbers up front.

Does buying in a flood zone change a VA or conventional loan?

It adds documentation, not difficulty — if it's handled early. Homes in mapped flood zones need flood insurance, and raised homes should have an elevation certificate on file. VA also requires a wood-destroying-insect (termite) inspection in New Jersey. We order all of it in week one, so none of it can ambush your closing.

Why are Union Beach list prices so much higher than sale prices?

Two housing stocks share one small market. New elevated construction lists at a median around $699,000, while existing homes close around a $450,000 median (August 2026). A listing's asking price tells you which stock it thinks it belongs to — your offer should be priced off the closings for that stock, and we'll help you read them.

What schools do Union Beach homes feed into?

The borough has one school: Memorial School (PreK–8), run by the Union Beach School District. For high school, Union Beach students attend Keyport High School in neighboring Keyport under a long-standing sending arrangement. Verify a specific address with the district, as always.

How fast do homes sell in Union Beach?

Quickly, for a small market: listed homes were moving in a median of about 21 days in August 2026, and closings settled at about 101.8% of asking price. But only about a dozen homes sell a month — the practical answer is that a good home here is gone in weeks, and there may not be another like it for months.

Sea View Mortgage — Philip Wallace, President / Loan Officer, NMLS #404069
Phone: (732) 443-4859

Equal Housing Lender. This site is not authorized by the New York State Department of Financial Services. No mortgage solicitation activity or loan applications for properties located in the State of New York can be facilitated through this site. Loans are arranged through third-party lenders. All loans subject to credit and property approval. This is not a commitment to lend.