Hips aren’t the only things that don’t lie. The numbers paint a picture of Nassau County real estate market prices as remaining high amid shrinking inventory, even as interest rates rose.
Average single-family home prices continued to soar in Nassau County compared to a year ago, up 6.9% in November year-over-year to reach $775,000, and up 9.3% to $776,000 on average for the last 12 months, according to OneKey MLS.
The real estate group said single-family homes in Nassau are going on average at 99.4% of list price, up from 98.7% a year ago.
For the third quarter, Nassau single-family home median prices shot up even more, rising 10.1% to $820,000, before rising interest rates took at least a bite out of even higher average prices.
“Anyone that bought their house in 2020 or before has gained lots of equity even without making a single change to their house,” said Anna Beigelman, a real estate agent based in Massapequa, of a rise in price in recent years.” Average price per square foot also increased.”
She said Nassau is very much a seller’s market, driven by low inventory and high demand. Sellers are getting multiple offers as the region’s real estate prices are fueled by demand from people on Long Island, in New York City and beyond.
“Houses selling at a premium is taken as a given in this market,” Beigelman continued. “It’s a great time to downsize or relocate to an area with lower priced housing. Your Nassau County house will have multiple purchase offers for you to choose from.”
Others said demand is strong for high end homes, although some possible buyers may have held off due to uncertainty about the economy.
“We are seeing a lot more action in the luxury sector post- election,” said Kimberly Bancroft, a real estate agent at Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty in Locust Valley. “Prior to that, the market was quieter, with people more pensive about moving forward.”
One major reason prices are still strong may be that inventory is down, as the number of single-family home listings this November in Nassau slipped 6.7% to 630, while closed sales dropped 7.5 percent to 619. The inventory of homes for sale tumbled 13.9% to 1,706, which also may be pushing up prices.
“Even with low inventory, homes were seeing a longer time to contract,” Bancroft said. “There were a few outliers: homes that were move-in ready and priced correctly.”
Houses in Nassau, however, are selling quicker, after 51 days on average, down from 53 a year ago in November, and 52 days down from 57 for the last 12 months. Beigleman said buyers are willing to go along with sellers’ requests.
“Buyers are still very open to giving sellers the terms they are looking for, in addition to price.,” Beigelman said. “Terms sometimes outweigh the purchase offer price itself.”
Some said offers often flow in fast and can be accepted equally quickly.
“We’re seeing more showings and scheduled inspections. I’m encouraged for the overall market,” Bancroft said. “I put a house priced at under a million dollars on the market recently in Rockville Centre and had an accepted offer within a week.”
Houses, however, aren’t the only market still going strong. Nassau condo median sales prices, which nearly mirror home prices on a graph, shot up 19.4% in Nassau in November, year over year, to $847,000 even more than the average house price.
But condos stayed on the market 80 days, up 3.9% from 77. Inventory, as with houses, was down, dropping 4.3% to 176 from 184.
Co-ops are up in price as well, but only slightly, and far cheaper than houses and condos. Residents own shares of cooperatives and must comply with a wide range of cooperative board rules, rather than owning units outright.
Nassau co-op prices in November edged up 0.8% to $330,000 selling for 97.6% of asking price. But they were on the market 29.8% more, for 74 days rather than 57 days a year ago. Inventory, once again, was down, dropping 30.6% to 154 from 222.
