Amid soaring home prices, Suffolk County’s luxury market lags

Home sales on Long Island slowed in May as prices and inventory rose, with Suffolk County seeing the median price of pending sales hit $405,000 that month, up from $380,000 year-over-year and the highest mark in more than a decade. But several brokers told Long Island Business News that the lower end end of the market has been strong, which has helped push up home prices in Suffolk. Low interest rates and homes being generally more affordable than neighboring Nassau County has also helped Suffolk, where the top of the residential market is hurting. “People who bought their homes for $500,000 or $600,000, and the next step is a $900,000 or $1 million home—we’re seeing them do more renovations or expansions to their existing house than buying a more expensive home with higher taxes,” said Joseph Moshe, a broker-owner of Plainview-based Charles Rutenberg Realty, citing the impact of the new $10,000 deduction cap for state and local taxes. [LIBN] — Brian Baxter