How spring market might pick up after 'miserable winter' on Long Island

For several years, concerns about low housing inventory and high demand on Long Island have played like white noise. Year-round buzz has quieted the traditional springtime boom.

But this year, agents here wonder whether the spring season will bring the boost it did before the pandemic changed the market in 2020.

"We had, as you know, a miserable winter," said listing agent Jeanine Entenmann, of Signature Premier Properties. "Now it's like everybody is out. My phone has not stopped ringing."

Local agents — even those anticipating a spring pick-up — say the market is not the frenzied free-for-all that pandemic-era house hunters knew. Then, a house could sell no matter the price or condition; now, the price of a property is important, experts said.

"It's a healthy market but it's not manic," said Douglas Elliman agent Paul Loeb in a text message.

Loeb, who sells mostly on the Island's North Fork, said buyers in his area did not experience the same long lines shoppers saw in the western Long Island pandemic market. Still, he said he sees homes going into contract almost every day, and that certain properties do instigate bidding wars.

Until about mid-March, Entenmann said she had not seen much buyer interest over the past few months. As the weather has warmed, Entenmann said she has been seeing an uptick in activity, with a recent Massapequa listing drawing more than 50 groups for one open house. The Lincoln Avenue address went into contract for more than $160,000 over asking, she said.

"If the house is priced a little under market — a little bit, not a lot," Entenmann said, "it will sell in one weekend."

Agents across the Island have long emphasized the importance of pricing a home right for it to sell. This means pricing according to local market conditions, said Joseph Sinnona, of eXp Realty.

"If a house is priced to sell, it will sell immediately," Sinnona said. "If it's not priced to sell, it's going to linger on the market."

Sinnona called this "an important formula for sellers to understand."

Based in Long Beach, Sinnona said he has been working in Nassau County for 37 years. While he once sold mostly in areas like Long Beach, Island Park and Oceanside, low inventory numbers, in part, have pushed him to expand his geographic reach over the past 10 years.

"I've had to branch out, in other towns, because the inventory's very limited," he said. "I go everywhere. I go to parts of Brooklyn, Queens; I go to Suffolk County."

Entenmann said she thinks prospective Long Island buyers who delayed home shopping in December, January and February are "coming out in droves" now.

"We're seeing a ton of buyer activity, which is really what pushes the market the most," she said.