Nassau median home price hit record high $890,000 in May
This three-bedroom, three-bathroom home in East Meadow, with a finished basement and new roof, is on the market for $849,000. Credit: EPM Real Estate Photography
Home prices in Nassau County reached a record high in May, rising to $890,000, as homebuyers powered through higher mortgage rates this spring to finalize purchases, according to new data released Thursday.
The median price of a single-family home sale in Nassau last month was 9.9% higher than a year earlier, data from the East Farmingdale real estate agency OneKey MLS showed. In Suffolk County, the median rose to $718,250, which was just shy of the all-time high of $720,000 recorded last September and November. That was a 4.1% year-over-year increase in Suffolk.
The new price record for Nassau marks another year of diminishing affordability for Long Island buyers, who have seen both home prices and mortgage rates rise dramatically since the pandemic, with a shortage of homes for sale fueling competition for homes.
“That is wild to say the least,” said real estate agent Taleen Krug, of Nassau’s $890,000 median price. “But I’m not surprised. If you look at Nassau County, all I’m seeing is increased pricing.”
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The median sale price of a single-family home in Nassau County climbed to a record $890,000 in May, according to new data from OneKey MLS.
- In Suffolk County, the median increased 4.1% to $718,250.
- Rising mortgage rates this spring have made monthly housing costs more expensive, but data on pending sales showed greater buying activity last month than in May 2025.
Demand for Long Island homes has nonetheless been resilient. Data on pending sales, which are deals that are in contract but not yet closed, showed an uptick in activity last month. The number of pending deals increased 13.8% year over year in May.
May tends to be a busy month as families look to find deals that will close before the start of the next school year, said Krug, who leads a team of agents with her husband, Richie Krug Jr., at Coldwell Banker American Homes in East Meadow. Two open houses the team held in East Meadow last weekend saw about 50 sets of buyers arrive for tours, and by the end of the weekend, both listings had multiple offers.
“The offers are coming in strong even though the prices have increased year over year,” Taleen Krug said. “The buyers out there know they have to put their best foot forward in order to secure the house.”
But the number of closed sales on Long Island, which reflect deals agreed to earlier this year, were 7.4% lower in May compared with a year before, according to the report.
Local real estate agents had hoped earlier this year that more new listings and the potential for lower interest rates would help improve affordability for buyers. Instead, buyers have been hit with a combination of too few homes for sale and rising mortgage rates since the start of the Iran war in February.
Mortgage rates have risen about half of a percentage point since the start of the war. The average 30-year fixed rate was 6.48% last week, according to goverment-sponsored mortgage giant Freddie Mac.
In addition, prospective buyers are facing higher prices for everyday items such as gas and groceries, making it harder to save for a down payment.
“To the extent we still see inflation kicking up higher and higher, that’s going to eat into purchasing power from buyers,” said Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com.
An insufficient number of homes for sale continues to drive prices higher, agents said. There were still fewer than half as many active listings last month compared with May 2019 before the pandemic fueled a surged in homebuying, according to data from Realtor.com.
Compared with last year, there were 8.1% fewer houses on the market at the end of May on Long Island, OneKey MLS reported.
That trend has driven prices higher in the Merrick area, said Seth Pitlake, an agent at Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Merrick
“We’ve got a huge buyer pool that’s looking to buy a minimal amount of product that we have,” he said. “What we’re seeing is more inventory come to market, but it’s being swept up so fast.”
To succeed, buyers have to set their sights far lower than what they can afford, Pitlake said.
There, homes priced at $749,000 often sell for more than $800,000, so attractive asking prices can be deceiving, he said. High ranches and Colonials in the Merrick-Bellmore area can command more than $1 million, he said.
Pitlake said he expects prices to level off but more new listings will be needed to address the imbalance between buyers and sellers.
“This is what buyers see as normal now,” he said.
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.
