More Long Island homes are selling for $2 million or more

In some areas of Long Island, $2 million may be the cost of entry to the luxury housing market. 

The recorded number of $2 million-plus home sales in Nassau and Suffolk counties in the first half of the year was higher than it was during the same six-month period last year, data from OneKey MLS shows.

And yet, while experts say $2 million is still within the realm of Island luxury, what a homebuyer can buy on that budget spans the spectrum. In a landscape of inflated home prices, a $2 million house could be small and on the water, larger and in need of repair or modest and in good shape. 

Characterized by high demand and limited inventory, the housing market remains "extremely strong," said real estate agent Lowell Ackerman, of Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty. For some incorporated villages on Long Island, $2 million has become "almost like a baseline price" for an entry-level home, Ackerman said. 

The market share of high-end homes sold on Long Island is "slowly expanding," said Jonathan Miller, co-founder of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel, in an email.

The share of Long Island homes sold for over $2 million from January through June

increased 12.9% year over year

according to Jonathan Miller, co-founder of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel

Based on OneKey data for Nassau and Suffolk counties, including the East End, the share of Long Island homes sold for over $2 million from January through June increased 12.9% year over year, Miller said.

This is consistent with the New York City market, he said.

In June, the median home price in Suffolk hit a high of $750,000, Newsday reported based on OneKey MLS data. In Nassau, the median sale price fell to $875,000 from an $890,000 record high in May.

Communities like Woodbury and Syosset crossed the $2 million threshold two decades ago, according to data Miller provided. In Woodbury, a Southwoods Road property sold for $2.025 million in 2003. In Syosset, a single-family home on Jackson Avenue was listed and sold for $2 million in 2005.

In Dix Hills and Melville, the first sales surpassed $2 million in 2016, according to Miller. 

A lot of homes have now been thrust into this luxury space just because of appreciation.

— Mark Donnelly, immediate past president of the Long Island Board of Realtors

Overall, the "$2 million-plus arena" behaves similarly to the non-luxury market because of the high cost of living on Long Island, said Mark Donnelly, immediate past president of the Long Island Board of Realtors.

Buyer and seller behavior, including the amount of activity on a property, is "very similar to what we're seeing at even half of that price, at the million mark," Donnelly said. And as home values continue to increase, a $2 million house today is often what a $1 million house once was, he said. 

"A lot of homes have now been thrust into this luxury space just because of appreciation," Donnelly said.

At the $2 million price point in some of the very affluent communities, they are not turnkey homes anymore.

— Lowell Ackerman, Daniel Gale Sotheby's International Realty agent

The features of a $2 million-plus home vary, so Ackerman manages clients' expectations. 

But what $2 million will get a homebuyer is not the same as it once would.

"At the $2 million price point in some of the very affluent communities, they are not turnkey homes anymore," Ackerman said. "They do need work."

Turnkey homes priced under their value that receive multiple bids are going for "astronomically over asking," Ackerman said. Even if a home is listed for $2 million, he said, a turnkey home will typically sell for much more than that in areas like Cold Spring Harbor, Mill Neck, Lloyd Harbor and Manhasset.

Prospective homebuyers shopping at the $2 million price point and above are often looking for lifestyle enhancements like increased acreage, private beach access, a private police force or increased privacy itself, Ackerman said.

Depending on their lifestyle and priorities, buyers in the luxury space are looking at a long list of areas across Long Island, Ackerman said. Those looking to be close to the Long Island Expressway, for example, are shopping in Melville, Dix Hills, Woodbury and Syosset. Those who want privacy and proximity to the water are looking at "tranquil North Shore towns," like Centre Island, Lloyd Harbor, Cold Spring Harbor, Oyster Bay Cove and Locust Valley, he added.

In Nassau and Suffolk counties, the median number of days on market for a property that sold for $2 million or more was 23 in June, Donnelly said. Using the same search criteria, the median price was $2.7 million and increasing, he said.

"Obviously, we're going to have some outliers that greatly affect that," he said. "And that's not including off-market transactions that might be taking place."

According to Donnelly, Suffolk tends to have more inventory at the $2 million-plus price point right now, but not by much.

What qualifies as "luxury" today is subjective, dependent upon consumer needs, wants and aspirations, Donnelly said. The qualities of finish, location and lifestyle vary from customer to customer, he said. 

"What luxury could be to a first-time homebuyer would be very different than what luxury could be to a repeat purchaser," Donnelly said. "Luxury to a Long Island buyer might have a very different look than luxury of someone relocating from down South up to Long Island, and what that money can buy."

Out of more than 10,000 sales, 

more than 650 were above the $2 million mark.

In Nassau, the top communities hitting this price point were

Manhasset (55 sales) and Great Neck (49)

In Suffolk, the top communites were

Southampton (37) and East Hampton (30)

according to data from OneKey MLS.