Elizabeth NJ Real Estate

Elizabeth: Union County's historic port city.

Elizabeth is the county seat of Union County and one of the largest cities in New Jersey. The 2020 Census counted 137,298 residents, making it the state's fourth-most-populous city behind Newark, Jersey City and Paterson. Founded by English settlers in 1664 as Elizabethtown, it served as New Jersey's first capital, and the city covers about 12.3 square miles of land between Newark Bay, the Arthur Kill, and the Union County suburbs of Hillside, Union, Roselle Park, Roselle and Linden.

For buyers, Elizabeth offers something few North Jersey cities do: real neighborhood variety inside one municipality, two NJ Transit train stations with service to New York Penn Station, and a large supply of two- and multi-family homes. For sellers, it means a broad buyer pool that includes first-time buyers, owner-occupants who want rental income, and commuters who work in Newark, at the airport, at the port, or in Manhattan.

Our Union office at 1915 Morris Avenue serves Elizabeth every day. Our agents have closed 500+ home sales in the city, and several of them live here.

Elizabeth NJ homes for sale

Elizabeth's housing stock is mostly older and varied. Two-, three- and four-family houses make up a large share of the market, especially in Bayway, Peterstown, Keighry Head, The Point and Elizabethport, where newer town homes and two-family houses have been built along the waterfront. Single-family buyers usually focus on Westminster, named for its large Tudor-style estates and one of the more affluent parts of the city, and Elmora Hills, the northwestern part of Elmora. Condominiums and apartment buildings sit along North Avenue in the North End, at the edge of Elmora near Elizabeth station, and in the St. Mary's area south of Broad Street, which has seen new condominium development.

Because the city mixes so many building types, list prices alone can mislead. A two-family in Bayway, a renovated single-family in Westminster, and a condo near the North Elizabeth station draw different buyers and are priced off different comparable sales. A local agent who works Elizabeth weekly can tell you which comps actually apply to a given house.

Elizabeth neighborhoods

Midtown (sometimes called Uptown) is the main commercial district and the historic core. It includes First Presbyterian Church, St. John's Episcopal Church, the 1931 Art Deco Hersch Tower, and the Ritz Theatre, which has operated since 1926. Elizabeth station sits here on Broad Street.

Elmora, on the west side, is a residential neighborhood built around Elmora Avenue's restaurants, shops and boutiques, with high-rise apartment complexes near Elizabeth station. Its northwestern section, Elmora Hills, is a middle- to upper-middle-class area of single-family homes. Westminster borders Hillside along the Elizabeth River near Liberty Hall, with green space at the Phil Rizzuto Park area.

The North End, also called North Elizabeth, runs north toward Newark between North Broad Street and Routes 1&9. It was built largely in the 1920s, has its own NJ Transit station, and offers larger one- and two-family homes plus condominium and apartment buildings around North Avenue. It also sits close to Newark Liberty International Airport.

Bayway, in the south of the city next to Linden, has a long-standing Polish community, older well-kept houses, and many two- to four-family homes. Peterstown, known as "The Burg," has a village feel and the historic Union Square shopping area. Frog Hollow and Keighry Head offer older, more affordable one- and two-family homes close to Midtown, and Elizabethport (the Port) is the city's oldest neighborhood, where many homes have been renovated or rebuilt since 2000.

Commute: two train stations, the Turnpike, and the airport

Elizabeth has two active NJ Transit stations: Elizabeth station in Midtown and North Elizabeth station. Both are served by the Northeast Corridor Line and the North Jersey Coast Line, with service to Newark Penn Station, Secaucus Junction and New York Penn Station. NJ Transit buses 111, 112, 113 and 115 run to the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan, and several routes run to Newark.

By car, the city is a hub for the NJ Turnpike (I-95), I-278 and the Goethals Bridge to Staten Island, U.S. Routes 1&9, and Routes 27, 28, 81 and 439. Newark Liberty International Airport is partly within Elizabeth, and the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal on the waterfront is one of the busiest ports in the world.

Elizabeth Public Schools

Elizabeth Public Schools serves students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Younger students attend K-8 schools, and high school students attend one of the district's academies, including Elizabeth High School Frank J. Cicarell Academy, John E. Dwyer Technology Academy, Thomas Jefferson Arts Academy, Alexander Hamilton Preparatory Academy, Admiral William F. Halsey Jr. Health and Public Safety Academy, Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Academy, and the J. Christian Bollwage Finance Academy. Private schools in the city include St. Mary of the Assumption High School, Benedictine Academy, and the schools of the Jewish Educational Center. Buyers should confirm school assignment for a specific address directly with the district.

History, parks, and shopping

Few cities in New Jersey carry as much early American history. Boxwood Hall on East Jersey Street was the home of Elias Boudinot, president of the Continental Congress, and George Washington stopped there on April 23, 1789, on his way to his first inauguration. The nearby Belcher-Ogden Mansion was home to Royal Governor Jonathan Belcher and later Governor Aaron Ogden. First Presbyterian Church traces its congregation to the town's founding in 1664, and Princeton University began in Elizabeth in 1746 as the College of New Jersey.

For open space, Warinanco Park, a Union County park of about 205 acres designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm, sits on the Elizabeth and Roselle border and includes the Warinanco Sports Center ice rink. Elizabeth's waterfront has Veterans Memorial Waterfront Park and the restored Elizabeth Marina. For shopping, The Mills at Jersey Gardens, a two-level outlet mall that opened in 1999, sits just off NJ Turnpike Exit 13A, and Elmora Avenue and Broad Street offer local restaurants and shops.

Union County market numbers, September 2026

New Jersey REALTORS does not publish a separate town report for Elizabeth, so the closest published benchmark is Union County as a whole. In September 2026, Union County single-family homes closed at a $675,000 median (up 3.8% year over year) on 240 sales (down 5.5%), with a 27-day median time to sale and 103.6% of list price received. Active inventory was 670 single-family listings, about 2.8 months of supply, still a seller's market. The year-to-date county median was $700,000 (up 4.5%). The townhouse and condo segment closed 36 sales at a $415,000 median, taking 44 days and selling at 99.9% of list.

Elizabeth prices vary sharply by neighborhood and property type, so treat these as county context rather than city prices. For the full breakdown, read our September 2026 Union County market report or visit our Union County real estate page.

Buyer playbook. Get fully underwritten pre-approval, and if you are looking at a two-family, ask your lender about owner-occupied financing on two- to four-unit homes. Tour new listings quickly, review the existing leases and the certificate of occupancy steps for any multi-family, and compare each house against recent sales of the same property type on nearby blocks. Seller playbook. Price against the last three to five comparable sales of the same type, not citywide averages. For two-families, have rent rolls and lease copies ready, because informed buyers will ask for them early.