Moving From One NJ Home to Another: What Happens to ANCHOR, Senior Freeze and Stay NJ?

A move from one New Jersey home to another can change all three programs. ANCHOR follows whichever home you owned and lived in on October 1, Stay NJ looks at whether you owned and lived in a home for the full year and has a separate schedule for owners who moved between New Jersey homes, and Senior Freeze has to be reestablished on the new home. Check the dates before you set your closings.

I'm Dennis Mark Interdonato with The Dennis Mark Group. When homeowners in Monmouth and Ocean County plan a move to a smaller home, property tax relief usually comes up after the contract is signed. It should come up before. Here's what the NJ Division of Taxation's own pages say, checked October 10, 2026.

What are the three programs?

The NJ Division of Taxation runs ANCHOR, Senior Freeze (formally the Property Tax Reimbursement program) and Stay NJ. Homeowners who qualify for the age-based programs file one combined application, Form PAS-1, and the Division decides which benefits apply. The Division is clear that eligibility, income limits and benefits for every program depend on each year's State budget, so the details below are for the current application, the 2025 benefit year.

What happens to ANCHOR when you move?

ANCHOR goes to New Jersey homeowners who owned and occupied their main home on October 1 of the benefit year, with New Jersey gross income of no more than $250,000 for the current application (NJ Division of Taxation, ANCHOR).

The Division's FAQ answers the moving question directly: you're still eligible if you moved during the year, but the benefit applies only to the qualifying property you owned or rented and occupied on October 1. So the question for a downsizing move is simple: which home will you own and live in on October 1? That's the one you apply for.

If the next home is a condo or co-op, you still count as a homeowner for ANCHOR, as long as you paid property taxes on the condo unit or were a resident shareholder of the co-op, and you meet the other rules.

What happens to Stay NJ when you move?

For the 2025 application, Stay NJ asks whether you (or your spouse) were 65 or older during 2025, owned and lived in a home for the full 12 months of 2025, lived in a home subject to property taxes, and had income of $200,000 or less (NJ Division of Taxation, Stay NJ).

A move in the middle of the year doesn't fit "the same home for 12 months," and the application has a place for it. The PAS-1 instructions include Schedule 1, which is only for homeowners who moved from one main home they owned in New Jersey to another main home they owned in New Jersey during the year, where the applicant or spouse was born in 1960 or earlier. It asks for both addresses, the block and lot of each home, the dates you moved out and in, and the property taxes billed for each period you lived there. The instructions also address a gap between homes that includes October 1 (2025 PAS-1 instructions).

How the Division figures a benefit for a move year is the Division's call, so ask before you close.

What happens to Senior Freeze when you move?

Senior Freeze reimburses eligible homeowners for property tax increases on their main home, and you have to meet every eligibility requirement for each year from your base year through the application year (NJ Division of Taxation, Senior Freeze).

For the 2025 application, a homeowner (or spouse) had to be 65 or older on December 31, 2025, or receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement disability benefits, and had to have owned and lived in the home since December 31, 2022, or earlier, and still on December 31, 2025. Income limits were $168,268 for 2024 and $172,475 for 2025 (Senior Freeze eligibility).

The Division's guide for buyers and sellers says that if you're in Senior Freeze and buy another home in New Jersey as your main home, you have to reestablish yourself in the program for the new property, assuming you meet the other requirements (NJ Division of Taxation guide). In plain terms, the reimbursement tied to your current home's base year doesn't carry over.

One detail for co-op owners: the PAS-1 instructions say residents of co-ops who changed units within the same co-op during the year answer as if they owned and lived in the same main home all year.

What does a move year look like?

Here's a made-up example to show how the dates line up, assuming the programs keep the same structure. A couple who meet each program's eligibility rules sells their home in Wall in August and closes on a single-level home in Brick the same week.

• ANCHOR: On October 1 they own and live in the Brick home, so that's the home they apply for.
• Stay NJ: They didn't own one home for all 12 months, so the year of the move goes on Schedule 1, with dates and taxes for both homes.
• Senior Freeze: The Wall base year doesn't follow them. They reestablish the program on the Brick home once they meet its ownership requirement.

Treat this as a way to read the rules, not a promise of a benefit.

What should you do before you set a closing date?

• Pull your most recent PAS-1 or ANCHOR confirmation and your current tax bill.
• Decide which home you'll own and live in on October 1.
• Ask the Division of Taxation or your tax professional how the move year affects each program you're in.
• Budget the next home at its full tax bill and treat relief as a bonus until it's confirmed. Comparing tax bills is covered in how to compare property taxes between Jersey Shore towns.

Then we set the closing dates around your answers, along with everything else in the downsizing plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Senior Freeze transfer to a new home in New Jersey?

No. The Division's guide says you reestablish the program for the new property, assuming you meet the other requirements.

Can I get ANCHOR if I moved during the year?

Yes, but only for the qualifying home you owned or rented and lived in on October 1.

Do condo and co-op owners qualify for ANCHOR?

They can. Condo owners who paid property taxes on the unit and resident co-op shareholders count as homeowners, if they meet the other rules.

What's the deadline for the current application?

November 2, 2026, for the 2025 application, according to the Division of Taxation.

This is general information, not legal, tax or lending advice. Program rules come from the NJ Division of Taxation pages and 2025 PAS-1 instructions linked above, checked October 10, 2026, and depend on each year's State budget.

About the author

Dennis Mark Interdonato is a REALTOR® and Master CDRE® who leads The Dennis Mark Group at Keller Williams Realty Ocean Living in Point Pleasant, NJ, helping buyers and sellers throughout New Jersey make their next move, with Monmouth and Ocean County as home base. Read more about Dennis Mark.

Keep reading

• How Dennis Mark plans a downsizing move and the Downsizing Guide
• How property taxes affect your monthly payment in New Jersey
• Property tax relief for people new to New Jersey
• Start your numbers with a free home value.
• Have a question this didn't answer? Send it to Dennis Mark and it may become the next article.