LI Real Estate Market Slowly Recovering From Coronavirus Crunch

Home prices are up, but sales are way down compared to last year. But the numbers are getting a little better each month.

By Alex Costello, Patch Staff

LONG ISLAND, NY — Despite the constraints of the coronavirus pandemic, Long Island’s housing prices rose in July compared to last year, continuing a months-long trend in the area. However, the number of homes sold dropped dramatically.

Overall, the median house price on Long Island rose 1.23 percent compared to last July, according to the Multiple Listing Service. Suffolk also saw gains from July to June of this year, but Nassau saw a slight drop off in the same time.

In Nassau, the median sale price for July 2020 was $551,250 — up 1.1 percent from last July’s median price of $545,000. However, it was a slight decrease from June’s median sales price of $558,500.

Suffolk saw an even bigger increase, with the median sale price going from $415,000 in July 2019 to $439,00 this year — a 5.8 percent jump. It was also higher than June’s median price of $429,000.

But the place where both counties were hit hard was in the number of homes sold. Long Island home sales have dropped dramatically during the coronavirus pandemic. In Nassau, there were 822 homes sold this July, compared to 1,331 last year — a 38.2 percent decrease.

The drop was similar in Suffolk, going from 1,762 last July to 1,133 this year — a decrease of 35.7 percent.

But based on sales data, the market may be making a slow recovery. While Suffolk sold about the same number of homes in June and July, Nassau saw an increase of 70 sales. Both counties have seen steady increases in sales since April, although the Suffolk market has been more robust than Nassau.