Tom Cruise may have been absent when Katie Holmes first dropped her divorce bombshell, as he was filming in Iceland — but now sources say the “Mission: Impossible” star intends to be spending a lot more time in New York to be near daughter Suri, and he’s shopping for a bachelor pad for himself.

“Tom’s looking for a new home here,” says a source. “He wants a fresh start. He doesn’t want to go back to the East Village apartment where he was living with Katie.”

But while Holmes has settled into a new pad in Chelsea, Cruise is eyeing houses outside the city, as well as high-end residences in town.

“He’s looking for something that’s very private,” a source told us. “Where he won’t have to deal with going through a lobby, and people outside all the time.

“He also wants to have a nice amount of space for Suri, with outdoor space. That could mean high-end luxury apartments, but he’s also looking at houses outside of the city or in gated communities.”

Area brokers are buzzing with word that Cruise could be looking for a new mega-home. Holmes reportedly has primary custody of Suri, but the terms of the settlement are confidential.

Meanwhile, Cruise, who also has a sprawling Beverly Hills estate, is wary of going back to the space he and Holmes shared at the American Felt Building on East 13th Street.

A source pointed out that Cruise chose to stay in a hotel this week on his latest New York trip to see Suri. “Tom wasn’t staying in their old apartment, because that would have been strange,” says the source.

The source adds that Cruise wants to “be an active parent,” adding, “So, New York, get ready for a lot more of Tom.”

Besides enrolling Suri in school here, Holmes is becoming a further Big Apple fixture after her split from Cruise, signing on to star in the upcoming Broadway show “Dead Accounts” and showing in New York Fashion Week for the first time in September with the Holmes & Yang line.

Reps for Cruise declined to comment.