The median sale price for a home on Long Island was $515,000 in 2020, an 8.4 percent increase from 2019, according to OneKey Multiple Listing Service.
In more than 40 years of providing local real estate analysis to Long Islanders, last year was the first time that the median price for closed home sales exceeded $500,000. Nassau County reported an annual median home sale price of $575,000, a 7.5 percent increase from $535,000 in 2019.
Nassau’s 2020 median home sale price was $130,000 higher than Suffolk County’s $445,000, but Suffolk had an 11.3 percent increase from its 2019 median sale price of $399,900. Queens County saw a 6 percent increase from 2019, with the median home price reported at $615,000 in 2020.
“What’s interesting about the 2020 housing numbers, and what speaks to our market’s resilience, is that despite being off on the year ending closed sales transactions, the number of yearly contracted sales on Long Island ended up 2.5% higher than in 2019,” OneKey Multiple Listing Service CEO Jim Speer said.
According to October statistics from OneKey MLS, the median sale price for homes increased year-over-year by 9.3 percent to $590,0000 in Nassau County in October. Nassau home prices set a record high of $595,000 in August, according to statistics.
Anthony Piscopio, a senior executive manager of sales for Douglas Elliman, said it was initially surprising to see how many homes were selling throughout Nassau County and said the demand for homes in close proximity to New York City has been one of the driving factors.
“We did sell a good amount of homes. It was actually pretty surprising at first to see how many we alone sold,” Piscopio said. “The demand has been incredible. It’s been nonstop multiple bids for certain price ranges and locations throughout Long Island.”
Phil Raices, the owner of Turn Key Real Estate in Great Neck, said the coronavirus pandemic will be a defining factor if the people who moved to Long Island from New York City ultimately decide to move back.
Raices, based on his research, said he estimates that around 400,000 people are looking to leave New York City and hopes that people remain smart and upgrade to homes that have been on the market but haven’t sold yet.
“Those 400,000 plus families who exited NYC to go out to Long Island and other states had a voracious appetite for purchasing their ‘next place to call home’ or possibly long-term stay or vacation home,” Raices said. “The city could be an amazing buy right now, if you can pinpoint certain factors concerning rents, return on investment, and calculating future events, which is never an easy task when you don’t have a guaranteed crystal ball assisting you.”
