Buyers are flocking to Nassau County, seeking single-family houses, condominiums and cooperatives with few on the market, keeping prices well above what they were a year ago in all three categories.
Properties also often go for above the asking price amid multiple offers.
What goes up must come down, as the old adage says, but nobody has ever said when certainly not for real estate.
While that wisdom may eventually prove true, even with real estate, drops in inventory and interest rates are continuing to drive strong single-family home sales, as well as co-ops and condos in Nassau County,
There was a slight 1.9% dip in February from $810,000 to $795,000 for Nassau median house prices, although numbers remained 5.6 % above a year ago, and condo and coop prices continued to rise as inventory slipped.
“Let’s call it March madness,” said Beth Catrone, an associate broker at Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. “There is such a demand. There’s so little inventory. I’ve never seen as many buyers in the marketplace as I have this past month.”
She said 60 people attended a recent open house and that her two new listings in the past few weeks sold in a weekend with multiple bids over asking. She priced one listing at $1,000,890 and it sold for $1,175,000.
Low inventory continues to drive sales, with only 735 new Nassau listings in February, down a whopping 13.1 % from 846 a year ago.
The total inventory of single-family homes for sale dropped 12.2 % to 1,609 from 1,832, leaving buyers chasing a dwindling number of houses for sale.
“Prices are continuing to rise, while lack of available inventory poses challenges for buyers,” Tricia Chirco, senior vice president of marketing and communications for OneKey MLS, said of the entire New York metropolitan region. “Market conditions across the New York Metro area are still favoring sellers.”
Nearly as many deals closed as a year ago, at 482, down 2.4 % from 494, but houses were on the market in Nassau longer, at 68 days instead of 61, up 11.5 percent but only a week longer.
“I think the buyers who may size up are staying put and doing renovations,” Catrone said of one reason for low inventory. “They see what’s happening and don’t want to put work into the house and pay top dollar.”
She said buyers from New York City, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, are moving to Long Island, along with some trade-up buyers.
“Land is expensive to build. Materials are pricey,” Catrone continued, explaining why more new construction isn’t in the works. “We don’t see a lot of new developments coming on.”
Condo prices shot through the roof up 32.1 percent to $799,500 from $605,000 a year ago, within reach of house prices and a sign that the condo lifestyle, often with amenities, is finding wider acceptance.
In February, condos sold for 98.7% of their asking price in Nassau, up from 96.4 % a year ago.
“The buyer who’s downsizing may be looking for a condo,” Catrone said. “In 55-and-older communities, there’s no inventory there either.”
Low inventory seems to be driving condo prices. Only 177 condos were up for sale in Nassau in February, down 14.1 percent from 206 a year ago. Fifty condos sold in February, up 28.2 % from 38 a year ago, after 60 days on the market, down from 70.
Catrone put a condo up for sale in February in a 55-plus community and got offers, with a contract currently out. “That market’s very strong. I’m working with clients looking for condos,” she added. “The demand is there. And there’s a shortage of those as well.”
Daniel Gale Sotheby’s put together a list of 55-plus developments in Nassau and Suffolk counties because clients who want to sell think they have nowhere to go.
“There isn’t a ton of inventory in these developments,” Catrone said. “When they come on, they go.”
Co-op prices are also going through the roof, selling with mean prices of $330,000 in February, up 14.2 % from $289,000 a year ago. Shrinking inventory drove coop sales, with only 178 coops for sale, down 15.6 percent from 211 a year ago. Still, they went for 97.5% of the listing price, down from 99.3% a year ago, but still close to asking.
Interest rates are starting to come down from 7.18 percent last May nationwide, dipping to 6.32 last September, before rising to 7.05 % in January, only to drop to 6.74% in March. But they’re still nowhere near the golden days of around 3 percent, when borrowing drove demand.
Prices have been rising in the New York metro area. In February, single-family houses closed with a median sale price of $710,000, up 9.2% year over year. Condominiums reported a closed median sale price of $530,400, up 12.9% from a year ago.
Meanwhile, co-ops’ median sales prices in February in Nassau were $295,000, up 1.7% from $290,000 a year ago, although still far lower than condo and single-family house prices.
“The real estate market continues to see rising prices,” OneKey MLS CEO Richard Haggerty said, noting single-family home prices were up 9.2% year-over-year, but closed sales were down 3.8%, and inventory was down 8.8%, which he said “has kept competition high.”
More houses may be coming on the market, but demand still seems to be far outpacing supply.
“The last three or four weeks, I’ve seen more inventory come on,” Catrone said. “If they’re priced appropriately, they are moving.”
