LI Housing Market Cools Slightly, But Numbers Are Still Strong

LONG ISLAND, NY — As 2021 begins, it seems Long Island's red-hot housing market is starting to cool slightly. But it's still a great time to be selling a house.

According to data from OneKey MLS, Long Island housing prices hit new highs in both Nassau and Suffolk counties in December, and they have stayed pretty level going into January. The number of homes sold has begun to decline, however.

Inventory is still low across the Island. According to OneKey, there were 12,004 homes on the market in January, which is a decrease of 10 percent from December, and a drop of nearly 19 percent from the same time last year.

The number of houses sold also dropped Island-wide, going from 4,708 in December to 3,459 in January.

However, the homes that are selling are going for incredibly high prices.

In Nassau County, the median sale price of homes was $600,500 in January — down slightly from the all-time high of $605,000 in December. Suffolk saw a similar change, with the median sale price in January of $475,000 dropping from the December high of $480,000.

And while the median price dropped slightly month-to-month, it was still a huge jump from January 2020. Nassau's prices were 13.4 percent higher, and Suffolk's were up 18.8 percent.

The pending sale price in Suffolk held steady from December to January at $470,000. But in Nassau, there was a huge jump, going from $600,00 in both November and December to $614,900 in January.

As winter moves on and the weather clears, it's possible the market will pick up again, and could lead to even more sales in early 2021.