LONG ISLAND, NY — Housing prices on Long Island finally stopped climbing, but they are still near record-high levels.
The latest data from OneKey Multiple Listing Service shows that the median home prices in both Nassau and Suffolk counties dropped from July to August, but they’re still higher than the were the same time last year.
In Nassau County, the median price dropped by $20,000 to $700,000 — which is 4.5 percent higher than August 2021. In Suffolk, prices dropped by $10,000 to $565,000, which is 6.6 percent higher than the same time last year.
The July prices in both counties were the highest ever.
Experts say the price reduction is mainly caused by rising interest rates on mortgages, a step taken to combat increased inflation. According to Newsday, interest rates nearly doubled from August 2021 to August 2022.
While the prices may be higher than a year ago, the number of sales are much lower. In Nassau, there were 1,349 homes sold in August, which is down 17.4 percent from the year before. In Suffolk, there were 1,645 homes sold — a drop of 8.2 percent. In both counties, the month-to-month home sales increased by about 200 from July to August.
Real estate is one of the few areas that hasn’t been suffering since the pandemic lockdowns ended in the spring of 2020. It set off a flurry of buying across the Island. And with limited inventory, prices soared and have led to many bidding wars. Buyers with money are paying above asking price, boxing many people out of being able to purchase homes.
