Long Island Housing Market Starting To 'Return To Seasonality'

LONG ISLAND, NY — Long Island housing prices continued to fall in December, continuing a process of returning the real estate market to its pre-pandemic levels.

The median sales prices of homes in both Nassau and Suffolk counties fell from November to December, according to the latest market report from OneKey Multiple Listing Service. In Nassau, the price fell to $655,000, down $22,500. And in Suffolk, the price was $542,500, which was down $2,500 from the month prior.

Though prices are high, they've fallen from the stratospheric levels they hit earlier last year. Both Nassau and Suffolk reached all-time high housing prices last July. Nassau reached a record median sales price of $719,000, and Suffolk was at $575,000.

"I don't think the median sales price was sustainable," said Richard Haggerty, the new CEO of OneKey MLS. "It was so high. It caused affordability problems with a lack of inventory."

And a lack of inventory was, and still is, a major driving factor.

The number of homes sold plummeted in December compared to 2021. There were 879 homes sold in Nassau, down from 1,345 in 2021 — a drop of nearly 35 percent. And in Suffolk, there were 1,175 homes sold, down from 1,802 — another drop of nearly 35 percent.

Haggerty said those drops are a sign that the market is stabilizing after the pandemic.

"What you see in these numbers is a return to seasonality, which we have lost for the last two years," he said.

He added that the record-high prices and sales were caused by a once-in-a-generation event, and are not likely to be repeated anytime soon.

"We are returning to the market we had pre-pandemic," he said. "I always cautioned that we're going to have asterisks next to 2020 and 2021. I don't see a return to that type of market activity anytime in the near future."