LI Real Estate Prices Hit New Highs As COVID Recovery Continues

LONG ISLAND, NY — The Island's real estate market hit new highs last month as the area begins to recover from the slowdown caused by the coronavirus, according to data from OneKey MLS.

The Long Island real estate market slowed to a crawl in March and April, when the coronavirus lockdowns were at their height. But now, home prices are climbing and the number of pending sales has increased by nearly 50 percent over last year in both Nassau and Suffolk counties.

In August, the median sales price in Nassau County was $595,000, up 7.6 percent from the same time last year. It's also higher than the July median price of $550,000. In addition, it's the highest median price the county has seen since at least 2018.

Suffolk County saw even bigger increases. The median sale price for August there was $456,000 — a 10.1 percent increase over last year, and an increase from July's price of $440,000. It was also a new high for Suffolk.

Both counties also saw a huge swell in the number of pending sales for August. There were 1,866 pending sales in Nassau, which is a 45.6 percent increase over the same time last year. And in Suffolk, there were 2,342 sales pending — a 42.1 percent increase.

But the number of home sold in August was still very low, and a steep decrease from this point last year. In Nassau, there were 992 sales in August, which is a 28.9 percent decrease from last year. In Suffolk, it was a 24.5 percent decrease to 1,409 homes sold. But the numbers are still an improvement from April, when sales hit extreme lows due to the shutdowns.