Census data shows Long Island's tight, pricey housing market

Owner-occupied housing units and home values on Long Island have increased in the past five years compared with the previous five years, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday.

Nassau's owner-occupied housing unit rate was 81.9% between 2019 and 2023, without 373,665 owner-occupied dwellings, a 4% increase over 2014-2018, when the rate in Nassau was 80.6% with 359,301 owner-occupied housing units.

Suffolk's estimated rate was also 81.9% in the years 2019 through 2023, up from 80.1% in the previous five years, an increase of 7.4% out of 419,631 total units, up from 390,897 over the previous five years. 

In Nassau County, the median value of a home went from $578,000 between 2014 and 2018 to $658,700 in the 2019-2023 time period, a change of 14%. In Suffolk, the median home values in the respective time frames went from $470,900 to $539,500,  a change of 14.6%.

Some housing experts said the high percentage of owners living in their homes has led to drawbacks for people looking to buy on Long Island, and driven away seniors hoping to sell and downsize but who find few affordable options.

Also, they said, high home values drive up rental costs.

"We've always had low [number of] rental units on Long Island," said Peter Elkowitz, president and chief executive of Long Island Housing Partnership, a Hauppauge-based nonprofit that seeks to develop, on its own and in partnership with developers, affordable housing options for Long Islanders.

"That starts back to World War II," Elkowitz said, referring to the postwar boom in the building of single family homes on Long Island. But now, he said, "many people don't want single family homes. They're looking for a decent, affordable rental. But if your housing stock is low, your rental stock is low," which he said is the case on Long Island.  "Where would they go? In order to be a really successful community, you need homes available for all income people. That's really critical," Elkowitz said.

Pointing to the flood of single family homes on Long Island generations ago, Gwen O'Shea, president and chief executive of the Melville-based nonprofit Community Development Long Island, which also develops affordable housing, said of some homeowners: "Many have been homeowners for a long time." 

O'Shea said some, "who were able to purchase at a time when it was affordable, are now not able to transition out of that house. What we hear a lot of times from homeowners who have been homeowners for decades ... they would love to downsize to another housing option but those options are extremely limited on Long Island, and those that may be available are cost prohibitive."

She added: "They're pretty much stuck in a house that doesn't afford them the quality of life they want."

According to the survey estimates for Long Island, which had comparison data for the two five-year periods for 154 villages and census designated places with populations of 5,000 or more, plus the two counties, there were 47 municipalities that had owner-occupied housing unit rates of 90% or higher, including one community, the village of East Hills in Nassau County, that had 100% owner-occupied units. 
 

Nationally, the bureau said in a release that owner-occupied units rose 8.4% between the two five-year time frames, going from 76.4 million to 82.9 million.

"The estimates show more people owned homes than rented in 3,070 of the nation's 3,144 counties and county equivalents between 2019 and 2023, the bureau said.

In addition, the bureau said, home values increased nationally by 21.7% during the two periods, going from an inflation adjusted median in 2014-2018 of $249,400 to $303,400 in 2019-2023.

The data also show the burden of housing costs faced by many homeowners. For instance, in Nassau, of 235,069 owner-occupied units with mortgages for which costs were calculated, 85,486, or 36.4%, pay more than 30% of their income on housing, and 37,231, or 15.8%, pay more than 50%. Of the 136,409 owner-occupied units without mortgages for which costs were calculated in Nassau, a total of 32,883, or 24.1%, pay more than 30%, and 17,027, or 12.5%, pay more than 50%.

In Suffolk, of 262,016 owner-occupied units with mortgages for which costs were calculated, 91,999 units, or 35.1%, paid more than 30%. There were 39,329 owner-occupied units with a mortgage, or 15%,  that paid more than 50%. Of 155,320 units without a mortgage for which costs were calculate, 36,311, or 23.4%, paid more than 30%, and 18,653, or 12%, paid more than 50%.

Despite the cost burdens on homeowners, O'Shea said, "The majority of individuals, though, that are extremely cost burdened are renters."

The Census Bureau said in its release that counties with "some of the highest median gross rents" were in parts of California, Virginia and the New York metro area, including Nassau and Suffolk.