Affordable housing lottery opens for below-market condos in Yaphank

Long Islanders can apply through Monday for a chance to buy one of 16 condos at a discount in a new Yaphank development.

Applicants selected through the lottery who meet income and other requirements will be eligible to purchase one of seven units listed at $296,875, or one of another seven at $445,250, not including closing costs and fees, according to the condominium offering plans. 

If those units were not subsidized, they would cost an estimated $371,875 and $470,250,  respectively, according to the offering plans.

Lottery winners will also be considered for two additional units to be built in the final phase of the development. But prices for those homes could be determined after April, when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development usually updates  its income limits, which set how much money a person can earn to be eligible for a lottery.

The 16 units are two-floor townhomes in Country Pointe Preserve, a $140 million, 152-home community in the Town of Brookhaven built by The Beechwood Organization, according to the developer.

Beechwood broke ground on the project in early 2025 and expects residents to begin moving into the homes in the first quarter of this year, according to Steven Dubb, Beechwood’s principal and president. He said he expects to complete the full project in 2027 or 2028. 

“Offering below market-rate homes through the lottery system helps us to help first-time new home owners, many who are essential workers, to establish themselves and stay on Long Island for years to come,” Dubb said in an emailed statement.

Residents will have access to amenities including a clubhouse, golf simulator and fitness center with a pickleball pavilion, Dubb said.

Buyers of the affordable units are expected to pay monthly homeowner association fees and condominium dues of roughly $500 once the community is fully built.

The Town of Brookhaven required the developer to set aside roughly 10% of the homes to comply with the Long Island Workforce Housing Act, said Jill Rosen-Nikoloff, senior vice president and general counsel for Long Island Housing Partnership. The act requires developers to set aside the units in exchange for building denser housing, according to the law. 

Households that make up to 80% or up to 120% of the area median income are eligible to apply, according to program guidelines. For example, a family of four could make no more than $131,900 to qualify for a unit priced at 80% of the area median imcome.

The home must be the buyer’s primary residence, and applicants cannot have owned a home in the three years before applying, among other requirements.

Those restrictions are intended to keep the units affordable for first-time buyers who struggle to enter Long Island’s expensive housing market, Rosen-Nikoloff said. The median sales price for a condominium in Suffolk County hit $549,500 in November 2025, according to data from OneKey MLS, the multiple listing service covering Long Island.

“Housing prices are continually going up,” Rosen-Nikoloff said. “It's very difficult for people to buy their first home on Long Island and be able to stay here with their families.”

The future resale price of the homes will be capped at the original purchase price plus the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index, and up to $20,000 in capital improvements made by the original buyer, according to the guidelines. That means buyers won’t accumulate home equity in the same way as market-rate owners.

Buyers will be responsible for paying their own property taxes, and at minimum, a 3% down payment, according to the guidelines.

As of Monday, the Long Island Housing Partnership had received 41 applications for the lottery, Rosen-Nikoloff said.

People interested in applying can find more information from the partnership at lihp.org/developments.html or by calling 631-435-4710.