Selling a house in 2026? What to expect, according to Long Island experts
Going into 2026, experts still identify Long Island as a seller's market, meaning that home sellers still have the power. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Players in the real estate space see the Long Island market from varied perspectives. Agents are on the ground with buyers, analysts are tracking sales and inventory numbers, some do both.
But experts who shared their insights with Newsday agreed on two truths as 2026 nears: the market is still in the hands of sellers, and — barring seismic shifts — low inventory and high demand will likely continue to push prices to their limits.
Newsday asked local real estate professionals to offer context and advice to those looking to put their homes on the market this coming year.
A strong seller's market
Experts still identify the Long Island real estate market as a seller's market, meaning that home sellers still have the power. Demand and prices are high; supply is low.
In November, there were 2,579 single-family homes for sale in Suffolk County — a 12.2% decrease compared with the same month last year, according to OneKey MLS. In Nassau County, there were 1,784 single-family homes for sale — a decrease of 15.6% year over year — according to the corresponding report.
"It's been pretty much more of the same this past year," said Richard Haggerty, CEO of OneKey MLS.
Haggerty said this year's numbers were "pretty much on par" with the previous year, and that the past 12 months have been relatively strong.
"With interest rates stabilizing, one thing that hasn't changed either last year or this year is buyer demand," Haggerty said. "Buyers are still out there; when properties are priced right, buyers are there waiting to scoop those properties up."
To sellers, though, Haggerty said: do not assume buyer demand will remain at current levels.
"Buyer demand at some point may change, if the prices just become untenable," Haggerty said. "Don't sit on the sidelines thinking that interest rates are going to go down to the levels of 3 and 4%. Those days, I think, are gone."
With inventory and affordability challenges, buying on Long Island is difficult, said licensed real estate broker Shaan Khan of RK Realty Group.
"Obviously, affordability is the big issue for buyers," said Khan, who will serve as president of the Long Island Board of Realtors in 2026. "They're having challenges with rising interest rates, rising costs — all costs are really rising these days, right?"
'It's a tight market getting tighter'
In Nassau and Suffolk counties, excluding the Hamptons and the North Fork, approximately six of every 10 homes sold in the third quarter of 2025 went for over the last asking price, said Jonathan Miller, CEO of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel.
Prices hit record levels this year across all segments of the market, Miller said, perpetuating housing affordability challenges; but homes are spending fewer days on the market than they have since at least 2002, when he started tracking Long Island sales.
"It's a tight market getting tighter," Miller said of the inventory-driven space.
As a point of reference, Miller offered an inventory figure he had during the 2008 recession: 26,145 listings. There are more than 20,000 fewer listings on the market now, he said.
As 2026 nears, Miller said he expects bidding wars to continue to "dominate the market" in Suffolk and Nassau because inventory on the Island is not expected to come back in a significant way. Available properties will likely continue to be absorbed quickly, he said, based on days-on-market figures. On average, Miller said, houses in Nassau or Suffolk counties, excluding the Hamptons, spend 37 days on the market right now — a number he identified as a historic low from the start of his records in 2002.
"I think what it means is more of the same," said Miller, who expects prices to continue to rise.
As a seller, it's a slam dunk. It's when they become a buyer, that's the part that they have to really give a lot more thought to.
— Jonathan Miller, CEO of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel
A modest decrease in mortgage rates would likely stabilize sales or create a slight uptick in the number of transactions, Miller said; but he described that possibility as "probably on the optimistic side." Bankrate found the latest average 30-year fixed mortgage rate to be 6.3% nationally.
"Incrementally lower mortgage rates are probably going to keep prices at record levels or close to them," Miller said. "I think it's going to keep sales challenged by the lack of inventory and, you know, diminishing affordability."
The market is still more suited to sellers; but sellers often become buyers.
"As a seller, it's a slam dunk," Miller said. "It's when they become a buyer, that's the part that they have to really give a lot more thought to."
Miller tracks the Hamptons and North Fork independent of the rest of Suffolk County because the East End is a different market, he said.
In the Hamptons, the third-quarter inventory figure was 1,256, Miller said — a 0.9% decrease year over year, and nearly 51% lower than it was in the third quarter before the COVID-19 pandemic. On the North Fork, Miller said listing inventory was just 142 in the third quarter — a 45.6% decrease year over year.
Planning to sell in 2026? Price strategically.
Though he described the current housing landscape as "a very strong seller's market," Khan cautioned: "Nothing's a given."
"Just because it is a seller's market, just because there are more buyers out there than sellers, doesn't mean a house can't sit on the market," Khan said. "If it's not priced properly, if it's not marketed properly, if the outreach isn't there, you still see houses that will sit."
During the pandemic, market shifts led to "record demand," Khan said. Showing and selling houses involved new variables — safety precautions, decreasing interest rates — and some sellers were receiving an "overwhelming" number of offers, he said.
"A house where maybe right now you would get four or five offers, that same house you were getting 15 to 20 offers," Khan said.
As 2026 arrives, Khan said the market's behavior is more consistent with pre-pandemic standards. Prices continue to rise, he said; and high demand is not masking certain market realities anymore.
This recalibration means that sellers can no longer take for granted that the house will sell regardless of the price or other circumstances.
"It's less forgiving than it was, let's say, two years ago," Khan said. "Now, you have to be on your game."
As a Suffolk County-based Realtor, Shaughnessy Dusling said she has seen price reductions with increased frequency as homes sit on the market. She noticed the shift in early spring, she said.
"We definitely had a buyer perspective shift; they kind of stopped wanting to play the game," said Dusling, a licensed associate broker with Real Broker NY.
For sellers, this makes pricing decisions weightier.
"When they're listing is when they have the most momentum, so they should price it right out of the gate, rather than having to readjust to the market," Dusling said. "Being a little bit more conservative on their pricing, trying to price it strategically to appear as a great value, versus trying to test the market."
Work with a professional
"There's still a lot of uncertainties out there in the market," said Khan, who emphasized the importance of working with a real estate agent.
Today, in a market rife with scams, including vacant land scams, Khan said it is important to "be vigilant."
"That's why I come back to the importance of having that qualified professional, who knows what to ask or who can help you spot the pot holes and the things that can really, really derail somebody and create tremendous financial harm to them," Khan said. "It's really important to have somebody by your side who can guide you and keep you safe."
Your Realtor really is your quarterback there. But, it is a team sport.
— Shaan Khan, RK Realty Group broker
Khan recommended looking for an agent who brings with them a team that includes a real estate attorney, for example. A seller can choose to assemble their team independently, but ideally an agent should come with options.
"Your Realtor really is your quarterback there," Khan said. "But, it is a team sport."
He offered this example: a seller may work with a knowledgeable real estate agent with whom they feel comfortable, but if the attorney involved does not practice residential real estate law, that client may find themselves "at a tremendous disadvantage."
A real estate agent should ask questions, suggest bringing in professionals, proactively have a survey done and work to obtain property records before listing the house, Khan said.
"If the buyer's attorney knows what they're doing, which hopefully they do, they're going to be requesting these documents from the seller's attorney. So, it's better to have all that information upfront," Khan said. "So much work goes in before a house is actually listed for sale."
How to appeal to buyers
Because of the high cost of living on Long Island, where the median home sale price in Suffolk hit $725,000 and in Nassau reached $840,000 in November, Compass agent Kate Works recommended sellers complete as many maintenance tasks as possible to appeal to buyers.
"Unfortunately, Long Island is so unaffordable that most people do have to have dual-incomes," Works said. "And with that, they don't have time for renovations…they don't have money or time to deal with the hassle of that."
Applying fresh coats of paint to the front door and interior walls, replacing old carpets and decluttering can remove mental hurdles for a buyer, Works said.
"Houses that are move-in ready, or recently renovated, are definitely still going to be selling for a premium," she said.
This does not mean a seller has to fully renovate the house, she said; changes as simple as swapping out old bed linens for new ones, or cleaning wood floors, can make a difference.
"A lot of people don't understand how far that really goes," Works said.
Works asks her buyers to think of any home improvements they make during the home selling process as an investment.
"It may not be dollar for dollar, but it is going to help you get more," Works said. "And it's going to help for an easier sale, because again, we're removing those objections from the buyer's mind."
Before listing the home, Works recommends her clients have an inspection done. She also submits Freedom of Information Law requests to the municipality to obtain permit and certificate of occupancy information, she said.
"That way, we can get ahead of anything that needs to be fixed before the buyers come to look at it," Works said. "Because sometimes sellers have no idea, they've been in their house for 20, 30 years, they haven't looked in the deep depths of their attic and, all of a sudden there's something going on over there."
As they shop for homes, Works said she expects the buyer pool to remain "very price-sensitive" — a variable that amplifies the appeal of move-in ready options.
"There's a limited supply on Long island, which is going to continue to push prices up," Works said. "Unless something all of a sudden changes where a whole slew of inventory comes on all at once, I don't really see prices changing."
Arielle Dollinger joined Newsday as a staff reporter in 2022. Previously, she covered local and national news as a freelancer for The New York Times, Newsday and other outlets.
