Long Island home sales inch up in January despite shortage of listings
This three-bedroom home in Commack went into contract in January. It was last listed for $599,000. Credit: Dynamic Media Solutions/Frank Urso
A post-pandemic slowdown in Long Island home sales — driven by a shortage of listings and the highest mortgage rates in 20 years — appears to be turning a corner, with January representing a rare month in recent years in which there was a year-over-year increase in transactions.
The number of single-family home sales across Long Island increased 2% to 1,413 in January compared with the same month a year ago, according to data released Wednesday by OneKey MLS.
Competition for a limited supply of homes has pushed prices higher. The median sale price for a single-family home in Nassau County last month was $735,000, or 8.9% higher than in January 2023. In Suffolk, the median price was $600,000 in January, which was 9.1% more than a year ago.
New listings were slow to materialize in the new year. There were 703 new single-family home listings in Nassau, which was about 11% fewer than in January 2023. Suffolk saw 945 houses listed in January, about 3% more than during that month a year ago.
Without more homes to sell, local real estate agents said buyers continue to compete for deals as the busier spring season approaches.
“There’s still not enough coming on the market at once for buyers to have less competition,” said Sari Eidelkind, a real estate agent at Lucky to Live Here Realty in Cold Spring Harbor. “I’m dealing with it on multiple houses right now where we’re still seeing multiple offers well over asking [price].”
In January, Eidelkind listed a three-bedroom home in the Commack school district for $599,000 with property taxes of less than $10,000 that quickly found a buyer. “It was definitely a hot commodity,” she said.
By the end of January, there were 3,443 single-family homes for sale across the Island, which is about 29% fewer than at the same time last year. The supply of listings increased only slightly from December 2023, when Long Island had the fewest homes for sale in 40 years.
New options are welcome for buyers, but the problem over the past few years has been that properties are snapped up faster than additional homes become available.
“It’s still a sellers’ market in my opinion,” said Ronnie Gerber, a real estate agent at Douglas Elliman in Merrick, who specializes in sales in the Five Towns and the surrounding South Shore communities. “There’s so little inventory that as soon as there’s a good one, they all go after it.”
Homeowners who would like to sell but plan to buy another property elsewhere have not been willing to trade a low mortgage rate for a higher one to finance such a move, Gerber said.
The January report marks the first month in which OneKey MLS, the multiple listing service where Long Island agents list properties, is reporting home sales under a new methodology. Its monthly reports now break out sales by category, including single-family home sales, condos and co-ops. Previously, OneKey MLS had combined one- to four-family homes, condos and co-ops to report sales and listings.
The median price across 47 condo sales in Nassau last month was $607,300, which was 7.3% less than the median in January 2023. In Suffolk, 105 condos sold in January for a median price of $510,000, a 17.2% increase from a year earlier.
Fifty-six co-op sales closed in Nassau, with a median price of $312,500, or 5.9% more than a year ago. The median among 26 Suffolk co-op sales was $225,500, $500 higher than the median in January 2023.
There’s optimism in real estate about the potential for the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark interest rate several times this year. In December, Fed policymakers signaled they expect the central bank will cut its key interest rate three times this year.
If mortgage rates were to follow suit, buyers could afford to spend more to purchase homes and some owners might be motivated to put their houses on the market. Of course, lower interest rates could also mean prospective buyers who postponed their search could return, increasing competition.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.77% during the week ending Feb. 15, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. In January 2021, before the Fed’s campaign to rein in inflation, it was 3.45%.
Last week brought bad news for those hoping rates will fall. U.S. inflation remained well above the Fed's 2% target, at an annual rate of 3.1%, according to data released by the Labor Department. Mortgage rates tend to rise during inflationary periods and fall when there are greater fears of recession.
Zahra Jafri, president of Lynx Mortgage Bank in Westbury, said that buyers need to be well prepared in this market, with a clear plan as to how they will come up with the cash to cover their down payment and closing costs so they can move quickly when they find a house.
“Whether there is a rate cut or not, unless there’s inventory, there will be competitive situations where house prices continue to go up because of supply and demand,” Jafri said.
CORRECTION: There were 56 co-op sales in Nassau County in January. The number of sales was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.
A post-pandemic slowdown in Long Island home sales — driven by a shortage of listings and the highest mortgage rates in 20 years — appears to be turning a corner, with January representing a rare month in recent years in which there was a year-over-year increase in transactions.
The number of single-family home sales across Long Island increased 2% to 1,413 in January compared with the same month a year ago, according to data released Wednesday by OneKey MLS.
Competition for a limited supply of homes has pushed prices higher. The median sale price for a single-family home in Nassau County last month was $735,000, or 8.9% higher than in January 2023. In Suffolk, the median price was $600,000 in January, which was 9.1% more than a year ago.
New listings were slow to materialize in the new year. There were 703 new single-family home listings in Nassau, which was about 11% fewer than in January 2023. Suffolk saw 945 houses listed in January, about 3% more than during that month a year ago.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Single-family home prices stayed near record highs in January due to a continued tight supply of listings.
- Last month saw a slight uptick in the number of sales, a rarity in recent years.
- Local real estate agents said buyers continue to compete for homes, with attractive listings getting multiple offers.
Without more homes to sell, local real estate agents said buyers continue to compete for deals as the busier spring season approaches.
“There’s still not enough coming on the market at once for buyers to have less competition,” said Sari Eidelkind, a real estate agent at Lucky to Live Here Realty in Cold Spring Harbor. “I’m dealing with it on multiple houses right now where we’re still seeing multiple offers well over asking [price].”
In January, Eidelkind listed a three-bedroom home in the Commack school district for $599,000 with property taxes of less than $10,000 that quickly found a buyer. “It was definitely a hot commodity,” she said.
By the end of January, there were 3,443 single-family homes for sale across the Island, which is about 29% fewer than at the same time last year. The supply of listings increased only slightly from December 2023, when Long Island had the fewest homes for sale in 40 years.
New options are welcome for buyers, but the problem over the past few years has been that properties are snapped up faster than additional homes become available.
“It’s still a sellers’ market in my opinion,” said Ronnie Gerber, a real estate agent at Douglas Elliman in Merrick, who specializes in sales in the Five Towns and the surrounding South Shore communities. “There’s so little inventory that as soon as there’s a good one, they all go after it.”
Homeowners who would like to sell but plan to buy another property elsewhere have not been willing to trade a low mortgage rate for a higher one to finance such a move, Gerber said.
The January report marks the first month in which OneKey MLS, the multiple listing service where Long Island agents list properties, is reporting home sales under a new methodology. Its monthly reports now break out sales by category, including single-family home sales, condos and co-ops. Previously, OneKey MLS had combined one- to four-family homes, condos and co-ops to report sales and listings.
The median price across 47 condo sales in Nassau last month was $607,300, which was 7.3% less than the median in January 2023. In Suffolk, 105 condos sold in January for a median price of $510,000, a 17.2% increase from a year earlier.
Fifty-six co-op sales closed in Nassau, with a median price of $312,500, or 5.9% more than a year ago. The median among 26 Suffolk co-op sales was $225,500, $500 higher than the median in January 2023.
Watching the Fed
There’s optimism in real estate about the potential for the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark interest rate several times this year. In December, Fed policymakers signaled they expect the central bank will cut its key interest rate three times this year.
If mortgage rates were to follow suit, buyers could afford to spend more to purchase homes and some owners might be motivated to put their houses on the market. Of course, lower interest rates could also mean prospective buyers who postponed their search could return, increasing competition.
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.77% during the week ending Feb. 15, according to mortgage giant Freddie Mac. In January 2021, before the Fed’s campaign to rein in inflation, it was 3.45%.
Last week brought bad news for those hoping rates will fall. U.S. inflation remained well above the Fed's 2% target, at an annual rate of 3.1%, according to data released by the Labor Department. Mortgage rates tend to rise during inflationary periods and fall when there are greater fears of recession.
Zahra Jafri, president of Lynx Mortgage Bank in Westbury, said that buyers need to be well prepared in this market, with a clear plan as to how they will come up with the cash to cover their down payment and closing costs so they can move quickly when they find a house.
“Whether there is a rate cut or not, unless there’s inventory, there will be competitive situations where house prices continue to go up because of supply and demand,” Jafri said.
CORRECTION: There were 56 co-op sales in Nassau County in January. The number of sales was incorrect in an earlier version of this story.
Jonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.
