Report: Sharp jump in Nassau home prices; Suffolk prices also up

House, condo and co-op prices in Nassau County jumped more than 9 percent last month, while prices in Suffolk rose nearly 7 percent, according to monthly data released Thursday.

In Nassau County the median sale price was $470,000 in March, up 9.3 percent from the $430,000 reported a year earlier, the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island reported.

In Suffolk County the median sales price was $329,900, an increase of 6.9 percent over the $308,600 reported during the same time last year.

Sales activity dipped slightly in Nassau, with 951 completed home sales reported for the month, compared with 967 last March. Activity in Suffolk rose, with 1,145 completed sales compared with 1,001 home sales closed in March 2016.

Price gains for single- and multifamily homes, a subset of overall homes, were even more dramatic: The median sale price in Nassau rose 11.1 percent to $489,000 from a year earlier. In Suffolk the median price for single- and multi-family homes was $335,000, an increase of 5.8 percent from last March.

Brokers said demand is outpacing the supply of homes, particularly in Nassau.

“Our inventory is still not overwhelming, unfortunately, and that accounts for the high prices sellers are getting” in Nassau, said Anne Arter, associate real estate broker with Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty in Port Washington.

Last month, 11,866 homes were up for sale in Nassau and Suffolk counties, down from the 14,809 from the year earlier period, listing service data show.

While low inventory benefitted sellers in Nassau, lower overall prices in Suffolk have boosted sale closures, said Jerry O’Neill, broker and owner of Coldwell Banker Harbor Light in Amity Harbor.

“Although many of the young couples would like to be closer to the city . . . they are willing to come out a little bit farther to get a little more house for the money,” O’Neill said.

Low mortgage rates are helping in both counties, brokers said.

“Mortgage rates haven’t gone up that much, and these buyers want to get in before they do go up,” Arter said.

Separately, the Long Island Board of Realtors’ 8th annual Long Island and Queens Realtor Open House Weekend will run April 22-23. More than 250 broker offices on Long Island and in Queens are slated to particpate, with “thousands of open houses scheduled,” according to a news release from the board.

CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story, and its headline, focused on the gain in prices of single and multifamily homes. The story also looked at sales volume for these types of homes. The story now leads with a broader range of home prices that includes condos and co-ops.