Anthony Licciardello | October 18, 2026
Colonia, NJ
Roughly ninety-three percent of Colonia's homes are single-family detached. Roughly ninety-three percent were built between 1940 and 1969. About eighty-eight percent are owner-occupied. In a township whose defining feature is that its ten sections have almost nothing in common, Colonia is the one that is almost entirely one thing — and that is both why it costs the most and why it is the easiest section in Woodbridge to value correctly.
Colonia is Woodbridge's premium section and its most uniform one — roughly 93% single-family detached, 93% built 1940–1969, 88.2% owner-occupied, on a median lot near 7,124 square feet. It has no station of its own, driving instead to Metropark in Iselin, and the Garden State Parkway runs along its flank. Published prices span from $349,976 to $685,000 — a $335,024 disagreement — but here is the useful part: because the stock is so consistent, closed-sale comping works better in Colonia than in any other section of this township. The uniformity that creates the premium also makes the premium measurable.
Figures below come from several sources measuring different things at different times, and some conflict sharply. None applies to a specific property. Verify comparable sales, lot dimensions, tax bills and school assignment for any address with the Township, the district and your own professionals.
Colonia holds roughly 17,795 residents in ZIP 07067, and it grew late enough that its own parish had to be carved out of a neighbour's — St. Cecelia's in Iselin originally covered Iselin, Colonia and northern Raritan Township, now Edison, before a separate parish was established in Colonia with a new convent built in 1964. That is the same story the housing tells: a section that filled in during the postwar decades and needed its own institutions only once it had, bordering Clark to the north and Metuchen to the south — which makes it larger than several of the boroughs it sits beside, despite being a section rather than a municipality.
~93% single-family detached — with roughly 1.5% in small apartment buildings and 4.7% in apartment complexes
~93% of homes built between 1940 and 1969 — a three-decade window holding almost the entire section
~88.2% owner-occupied
Median lot around 7,124 square feet · median home size around 1,710 square feet
Named local areas include the town centre, Madaline Drive and Blair Road
Compare it to Fords, a few minutes away. Fords mixes duplexes, colonials, cottages, capes and ranches on small lots, and five published sources disagree about its price by roughly $99,616 — precisely because each instrument weights that mix differently. Colonia is one product type from one era on similar lots. There is far less mix for an instrument to get wrong.
For a buyer that means closed-sale comps here are unusually reliable — if you find three recent sales of comparable detached houses on comparable lots in Colonia, that is a real number rather than an average of unlike things. For a seller it means the market is disciplined: your house will be measured against genuinely similar houses, and condition and updating carry most of the variance.
The vintage carries a legal consequence worth stating plainly. A section where roughly 93% of homes predate 1970 is a section where the federal pre-1978 lead-based paint disclosure applies to almost every sale, with its ten-day buyer inspection window — and where most houses fall into New Jersey's oldest resale alarm tier. Check the build year on the tax record; it settles both questions in one lookup. Our Woodbridge seller's guide covers the process.
Here is the fact that should give a buyer pause, and then reassure them. Woodbridge has three NJ Transit stations. None of them is in Colonia. The premium section of a township defined by rail access does not have rail access — and it still commands the premium.
Metropark, minutes south in Iselin — Northeast Corridor express and Amtrak, and among the busiest suburban stops in the region
Avenel and Woodbridge — the township's two North Jersey Coast Line stations, and Rahway nearby
Garden State Parkway along the section's flank, plus Route 27, Route 1 and the New Jersey Turnpike
Manhattan roughly 28 miles · Newark Liberty about 10 to 14 miles
Staten Island roughly 20 to 25 minutes via the Route 440 and Outerbridge Crossing corridor
That last line is why Colonia prices the way it does. It is a perennial landing spot for New York households trading up across the bridge — and a buyer coming from Staten Island is not usually buying a walk to a platform. They are buying a detached house on a real lot within a short drive of an express station, at a price that would buy considerably less back across the water. Colonia is built for exactly that trade.
"Minutes from Metropark" is true and incomplete — a station you cannot park at is not a station you can use. Metropark is a major regional hub with correspondingly heavy demand. Before you buy Colonia on the strength of that drive, confirm what commuter parking actually requires there and what it costs, and do the trip once at your real departure hour. The same discipline applies to Avenel and Woodbridge — our township commute guide and Metropark analysis cover both.
One published figure puts the average Colonia commute at roughly 32.3 minutes, slightly above the national average. That is a section of drivers, not platform-walkers — and it is worth knowing which of those two you are before you pay the Colonia premium rather than the Avenel or Fords price.
Published estimates for your section range from $349,976 to $685,000. One of those is off by a factor of two.
Colonia's uniformity is the seller's advantage — with 93% of the stock detached and built in one three-decade window, a properly built comp set here is genuinely accurate. The problem is that automated estimates are not built that way, and the published spread proves it. We comp against matched detached sales inside the section, price into the right tier rather than against a township median, and market to the Staten Island and New York buyer pool that reaches Colonia in about twenty minutes over the Outerbridge — which is precisely the pool this section was built for.
$685,000 — median list price, August 2026, at about $372 per square foot, on a 35-day median
$647,000 — trailing value index, roughly $166,000 above the township-wide figure
$369,685 — an average home value published elsewhere
$349,976 — a median home value published by a national site ⚠️
Reported market tiers: a starter-premium tier in the $600,000s, the heart of the market in the $700,000s and $800,000s, and a custom tier crossing $1 million
The $349,976 comes from the same national platform that describes Woodbridge Township as "a township located in Perth Amboy" — it is not; Perth Amboy is a separate city — and that publishes a township median roughly $180,000 below every other source. A page that cannot place the municipality on a map is not a page to price a house from.
And a second one, for a different reason. A major listing platform answering "what are the best and safest places to live in Colonia" returns Paulus Hook, Hamilton Park, Journal Square, Weequahic and the Ironbound — neighbourhoods of Jersey City and Newark, not Colonia. We have discarded the same platform's neighbourhood lists in three other towns for the same failure. Its price figures may be sound; its geography plainly is not.
Strip those out and Colonia resolves cleanly, which is unusual in this township. The index at $647,000 and the August list median at $685,000 are close, and both sit above the township-wide figure by roughly the margin you would expect from the premium section. That convergence is the uniformity paying off — the same consistency that makes comping work makes the aggregate measures agree.
Sellers at the top of the section have one more thing to model. New Jersey's transfer obligations rise on higher-value transactions, and the treatment of the additional fee on sales at and above $1 million has changed in recent years, with the obligation shifting toward sellers. In a section with a genuine custom tier above that threshold, that is a real line in your net — confirm the current rule and rates with your attorney before you price. Our Woodbridge tax guide covers the carrying side.
A detached house on a real lot, 20 to 25 minutes from Staten Island over the Outerbridge, minutes from an express station, with the Parkway on the flank. You are paying the premium for the house and the position, not for a platform — and if you were never going to walk to a train, that is the right trade.
Both have stations you can walk to and both cost materially less. Avenel has an ADA-accessible platform, a theatre and arts retail at roughly a hundred thousand less, with an industrial trade attached. Run both before you assume Colonia is the upgrade.
Merrill Park runs to about 182 acres as a Middlesex County park with playing fields, picnic groves, playgrounds and open space, and Oak Ridge Park sits nearby. Local options include Evergreen Skate Park on Inman Avenue, Longhill Park, Remembrance Park on Cameo Place and several others, with the Colonia Country Club for golf. Confirm current facilities with the Township and Middlesex County.
In a section where ~93% of houses were built between 1940 and 1969, the systems are the real budget, not the kitchen. The upside is that the market rewards updating here — with a custom tier crossing $1 million, there is genuine headroom above the mid-market for a well-executed renovation.
On schools, the practical instruction is the same everywhere in this township and it matters more here than most. Colonia sits within the Woodbridge Township School District, and the district also operates a selective magnet programme, Woodbridge Academy, available township-wide to qualifying students. Attendance assignments are address-specific and change; confirm yours with the district's registration office rather than with a listing. Our schools guide covers the structure.
The section-by-section ladder is in our Ten Towns of Woodbridge, the comping discipline in our buyer's guide, and current inventory on our Colonia listings page.
In Colonia, ask for comps by build decade — not just by street and size. Roughly 93% of the section went up between 1940 and 1969, but that is still three distinct decades of construction: a 1948 cape, a 1958 ranch and a 1967 split are different houses with different systems, different layouts and different renovation economics, even sitting on identical 7,000-square-foot lots a block apart. Most comp sets sort by square footage and proximity and stop there. Sorting by decade first is what separates a $700,000s house from an $800,000s house in a section where the exterior differences are subtle and the buyer pool knows exactly what it is looking at. Ask for it explicitly — the data supports it, and almost nobody requests it.
"Here's what nobody says about Colonia. Ninety-three percent of it is detached single-family. Ninety-three percent of it went up between 1940 and 1969. Eighty-eight percent owner-occupied. In a township where the whole problem is that the ten sections have nothing in common, Colonia is almost entirely one thing — and that's why it's the premium and why it's the one section where comps actually work. Fords has five published prices ninety-nine thousand apart because it's a mix. Colonia's index and its list median are within forty grand. And the other thing: it's the premium section with no train station. It drives to Metropark. So if you're walking to a platform every morning, go price Avenel and Woodbridge Proper first — they're cheaper and they've got the walk. Colonia's built for the Staten Island buyer coming over the Outerbridge in twenty minutes who was always going to drive anyway."
— Anthony Licciardello, Broker, The Prodigy Team
Colonia is a twenty-minute drive from Staten Island over the Outerbridge, and moving households across that bridge is precisely what my practice is built around: I'm Anthony Licciardello, Broker of The Prodigy Team, dual-licensed in New York and New Jersey, a former Director of Community Affairs in the Bloomberg Administration, and a leading broker for cross-border New York–New Jersey transactions.
Anthony Licciardello · Broker, The Prodigy Team · 718-873-7345
We comp by build decade inside the section — and price into the right tier, not against a township median.
What kind of place is Colonia, NJ?
An unincorporated section of Woodbridge Township with roughly 17,795 residents in ZIP 07067, bordering Clark to the north and Metuchen to the south. It is the township's most uniform section: about 93% single-family detached, roughly 93% of homes built between 1940 and 1969, and about 88.2% owner-occupied, on a median lot near 7,124 square feet. Local areas include the town centre, Madaline Drive and Blair Road. Merrill Park, a roughly 182-acre Middlesex County park, sits along its edge.
How much do homes cost in Colonia?
Published figures span $349,976 to $685,000, but two of those sources are unreliable — the lowest comes from a platform that places Woodbridge Township "in Perth Amboy." The credible figures converge: a trailing value index near $647,000, roughly $166,000 above the township-wide figure, and an August 2026 median list price of $685,000 at about $372 per square foot on a 35-day median. Reported tiers run a starter-premium $600,000s, a heart-of-market $700,000s–$800,000s, and a custom tier above $1 million.
Does Colonia have a train station?
No — and it is still the township's premium section. Colonia commuters typically drive minutes south to Metropark in Iselin for Northeast Corridor express and Amtrak service, with the township's two North Jersey Coast Line stations at Avenel and Woodbridge, and Rahway, as alternatives. The Garden State Parkway runs along the section's flank, with Route 27, Route 1 and the Turnpike nearby. Manhattan is roughly 28 miles; Staten Island is about 20 to 25 minutes via Route 440 and the Outerbridge Crossing. Confirm what commuter parking requires at Metropark before relying on that drive.
Why are Colonia comps more reliable than other Woodbridge sections?
Because the housing stock is unusually consistent. Fords mixes duplexes, colonials, cottages, capes and ranches, and five published sources disagree about its price by roughly $99,616 — each instrument weights that mix differently. Colonia is largely one product type from one three-decade era on similar lots, so there is far less mix to get wrong. Three recent closed sales of comparable detached houses on comparable Colonia lots is a genuinely usable number. Sort by build decade as well as size — a 1948 cape, a 1958 ranch and a 1967 split are different houses.
Woodbridge Proper — The Only Walk-to-Train Downtown
Iselin — The Best Commute and the Most Misleading Median
Hopelawn, Keasbey & Menlo Park Terrace — The Three Nobody Measures
Staten Island to New Jersey — The Three Questions and Two Rules
The Ten Towns of Woodbridge — Every Section, Explained
Buying in Woodbridge — Four Sources, Four Prices
Avenel — The Transit Village That Already Got Built
Fords — Five Published Prices, One Section
Sewaren — Rebuilding the Cheapest Waterfront
Everything Being Built in Woodbridge Right Now
Moving to Woodbridge — The Complete Guide
Colonia Homes for Sale — Browse Current Listings
Figures as of publication, from the sources noted, measuring different quantities over different periods, and subject to change. Section profile: a population of 17,795 in an unincorporated section of Woodbridge Township, ZIP 07067, bordering Clark to the north and Metuchen to the south, with named local areas including its town centre, Madaline Drive and Blair Road; approximately 93% of homes single-family detached with roughly 1.5% in small apartment buildings and 4.7% in apartment complexes; approximately 93% of all homes constructed between 1940 and 1969; and a 25-minute drive from Staten Island — all per a national real-estate site's Colonia page. That same site describes Woodbridge Township as "a township located in Perth Amboy" — Perth Amboy is a separate municipality — and publishes a Colonia median home value of $349,976 and a township median of $297,715, the latter roughly $180,000 below every other source consulted. Its price figures are cited here only to be discarded; its structural housing percentages are reported as published and should be independently verified. A separate site reports approximately 88.2% home ownership, an average home value of $369,685, a median lot size of 7,124 square feet, a median home size of 1,710 square feet, a median price per square foot of $386, average days on market of 36, and an average commute time of 32.3 minutes. Movoto reports that in August 2026 Colonia homes were listed at a median price of $685,000, at a median $372 per square foot, spending a median 35 days on market. That platform's response to "the best and safest places to live in Colonia" returns Paulus Hook, Hamilton Park, Historic Downtown, Forest Hill, Journal Square, Weequahic, the Ironbound and other neighbourhoods of Jersey City and Newark rather than Colonia; we have discarded the same platform's neighbourhood lists in three other municipalities for the same failure and place no reliance on them here. Our own Colonia listings page reports typical values around $647,000 on the trailing index, roughly $166,000 above the township-wide figure, with a starter-premium tier in the $600,000s, a heart of market in the $700,000s and $800,000s, and a custom tier crossing $1 million; and describes Metropark station's Northeast Corridor express and Amtrak service minutes south in Iselin, the Garden State Parkway along the section's flank, the township's two North Jersey Coast Line stations, Manhattan at roughly 28 miles and Staten Island at about a 20-minute drive via the Route 440 and Outerbridge Crossing corridor. Parish history per the Woodbridge Township Historic Preservation Commission's Tour Map of Historic Sites (Volume 7): St. Cecelia's Parish originally covered Iselin, Colonia and northern Raritan (now Edison) Township; a parish was later established in Colonia, with a new convent built in 1964. Parks and amenities: Merrill Park is described variously as a 180- and 182-acre Middlesex County park with playing fields, picnic groves, playgrounds, walking areas and open space; other local options reported include Oak Ridge Park, Evergreen Skate Park on Inman Avenue, Longhill Park on Longhill Road, Remembrance Park on Cameo Place, Monsignor Francis J. Sergel Park, Pennsylvania Avenue Lamont Swain Park and Charles Shaunessy Park, with the Colonia Country Club nearby. Newark Liberty International Airport is reported at approximately 10 to 14 miles. Confirm current park facilities with the Township of Woodbridge and Middlesex County. Schools: Colonia sits within the Woodbridge Township School District, which also operates the selective Woodbridge Academy magnet programme available township-wide to qualifying students. School attendance assignments are address-specific and subject to change; confirm with the district's registration office. No school performance ratings are published here, and the promotional characterisations of school quality appearing in some source material are not reproduced. New Jersey transfer obligations on higher-value transactions, including the additional fee applying at and above $1 million, have changed in recent years; confirm the current rule, rates and which party bears them with your attorney before pricing. Household income, age, household composition and crime data available from the sources consulted have been deliberately excluded, as we exclude such material for every community we cover. Medians, averages and value indexes are not appraisals and describe populations of transactions or modelled values rather than any individual property. Comparable sales, lot dimensions, build year, tax bills, assessments and condition must be verified for any specific property. This is general information and market commentary, not legal, tax, or investment advice.
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