LI Housing Prices Hit New Highs As Market Rebound Continues

LONG ISLAND, NY — Long Island housing prices hit new highs in November as the market continued its striking rebound from the shutdowns earlier this year.

According to One Key Multiple Listing Service, home prices in Nassau and Suffolk counties hit new highs in November, continuing a trend since the summer as the local real estate market rebounds from the shutdowns in the spring. From November 2019 to 2020, the median sales price on Long Island jumped 14.7 percent. The number of homes sold also jumped dramatically.

Once lockdown restrictions lifted in May, it set off a flurry of home buying. But inventory is still relatively low, which has led to increased prices and bidding wars for the houses that are available.

In Nassau County, the median sales price for this November was $598,000 — up nearly 12 percent from last year. It's also up slightly from October's median price of $590,000.

The number of homes sold in Nassau jumped 30 percent year-over-year, going from 1,084 in 2019 to 1,417 in 2020. However, it's lower than October's high of 1,600 sold.

Suffolk County saw similar trends in its housing market. The median sales price jumped more than 18 percent to $473,500 in 2020. That, too, was higher than October's median price of $470,000.

The number of homes sold in Suffolk also jumped considerable year-over-year, going from 1,424 in 2019 to 1,694 in 2020 — an increase of 19 percent. But that, too, was down from the October high of 2,037 homes sold.

The fall and winter months are usually slower for the local real estate market, which usually picks up in the spring and summer. But the coronavirus shutdowns delayed that prime buying time. But even with the late-year buying frenzy, realtors are unlikely to make enough sales to completely recover from the market shutdown.