Real Estate Agent License Renewal in New Jersey
New Jersey salespersons renew every 2 years with 12 hours of CE, half of it core topics. Renewal is $100, with a hard April 30 CE deadline.
| Renewal cycle | Every 2 years |
|---|---|
| CE hours required | 12 hours 12 credit hours per 2-year license period, and at least 6 must be core topics: within the core, at least 2 hours ethics, 1 hour Fair Housing and NJ Law Against Discrimination, and 1 hour agency, with the other 2 core hours in any core subject. The remaining 6 hours may be core or elective. A salesperson first licensed during the second year of the license term is exempt from CE for that term. |
| Renewal fee | $100.00 |
| Mandatory CE topics | Ethics (2 of the 6 core hours), Fair Housing and NJ Law Against Discrimination (1 core hour), Agency (1 core hour), Additional core topics (2 core hours) |
| Licensing board | New Jersey Real Estate Commission (Department of Banking and Insurance) |
Sourced from New Jersey Real Estate Commission (Department of Banking and Insurance), verified July 24, 2026. Requirements change. Confirm with your board before relying on this.
New Jersey keeps the total modest, 12 hours over two years, but it splits that total in a way that decides which courses actually count. Half of it is locked to core topics, and the core has its own internal breakdown.
Twelve hours, six of them core
Every licensee completes 12 credit hours per two-year license period. The structure is what to watch:
- At least 6 hours must be core topics. Within that 6:
- 2 hours ethics
- 1 hour Fair Housing and the NJ Law Against Discrimination
- 1 hour agency
- 2 more hours in any core subject.
- The remaining 6 hours may be any combination of core and elective.
So the elective freedom people expect is really only half the requirement, and even the core half has four of its six hours pre-assigned to named subjects. A licensee who buys 12 generic elective hours has not met the requirement no matter how many hours they log.
The two deadlines that catch people
New Jersey, like North Carolina, separates the CE deadline from the renewal deadline, and the CE one comes first. For the current term:
- CE must be completed by April 30, 2027.
- The license renewal is due June 30, 2027.
Finishing CE in May, after the April 30 date, creates a problem even if you renew before June 30. Treat April 30 as the real deadline and the renewal payment as the follow-up.
The first-term exemption
A salesperson who became licensed during the second year of the two-year term is exempt from continuing education for that term. If you were licensed late in the cycle, you likely owe no CE for your first renewal, but confirm your licensure date against the term dates before assuming it.
The cycle and the fee
New Jersey runs a two-year license term, and renewal is filed online through the Real Estate Commission. The salesperson renewal fee is $100; a broker of record or broker-salesperson pays $200. Both are set biennially by regulation under the state license law.
How this compares
At 12 hours per two years, New Jersey is lighter than neighboring New York’s 22.5 and Pennsylvania’s 14, and its $100 salesperson fee sits above New York’s $65 but below Illinois’s $200. The distinctive feature is the core-topic structure: where some states mandate one or two subjects, New Jersey reserves half the requirement for core content and names four specific hours inside it, so the “which course counts” question matters more here than the raw hour count suggests.
Add your renewal deadline to your calendar
Enter your expiration date and download a calendar file. Your own calendar will remind you at 90, 60, 30, and 7 days out. We don't ask for your email, we store nothing, and the date never leaves your device.
Works with Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, and Outlook. This is a convenience, not a compliance service. Confirm your exact deadline with the New Jersey Real Estate Commission (Department of Banking and Insurance).
How many CE hours do you have left?
New Jersey requires 12 CE hours this cycle. Enter what you've completed and see what's left. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
Hours alone aren't the whole requirement. Some must be these specific topics:
- Ethics (2 of the 6 core hours)
- Fair Housing and NJ Law Against Discrimination (1 core hour)
- Agency (1 core hour)
- Additional core topics (2 core hours)
A convenience, not a compliance service. Confirm your exact requirement with the New Jersey Real Estate Commission (Department of Banking and Insurance). This is not legal advice.
Continuing education hours per renewal cycle
New Jersey asks for 12 hours. That is below the median of 18 across the 51 states that set a flat hour count, which run from 7 to 45. Ranked lowest to highest, New Jersey is 13 of 51.
Renewal fee
New Jersey charges $100. The median across the 48 states that publish a figure is $115, running from $0 to $578. Ranked cheapest to dearest, New Jersey is 21 of 48.
Each mark is one state. The taller line is the median, the filled dot is New Jersey. States that set no flat hour count, or publish no fee, are left out of that comparison rather than counted as zero.
What will this renewal cost?
New Jersey's renewal fee is filled in from the board below. Add what you expect to spend on CE courses, plus a late fee if you're past due, for a running total. Nothing you type is stored.
The renewal fee is from the New Jersey Real Estate Commission (Department of Banking and Insurance) and dated on this page; the CE and late-fee figures are your own estimates. A convenience, not a compliance service, and not legal advice. Confirm fees with your board.