As bidding wars, minimal inventory and high prices have pushed buyers out of the Long Island housing market, hope for new supply may finally be emerging.
In Nassau and Suffolk counties, excluding the East End, sales have slowed as the median sale price reached $605,000 in the second quarter, up 9 percent in a year. Bidding wars accounted for 6 of 10 sales during the quarter, according to a report for Douglas Elliman by Miller Samuel.
However, in a silver lining, listing inventory hit 6,919, a 2 percent increase.
“Prices are setting records, but transactions are starting to cool and inventory is starting to rise,” said Jonathan Miller, the author of the report. “And that leads to a season where it’s plateauing, moving sideways, in the coming quarters.”
In the Hamptons, the median sale price reached $1.6 million, a 14 percent year-over-year jump. Bidding wars accounted for one out of three sales.
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Only 896 homes were on the market, down 17 percent from the previous year, but up 34 percent from the previous quarter, rising from a historic low to the third lowest on record. Still, any increase in inventory is noteworthy in what has been an extremely tight market.
As buyers were scared off by high prices and rising mortgage rates, or simply failed to find a viable listing, the number of sales in the Hamptons fell. In the second quarter, 441 deals were closed, down 35 percent from the previous year.
On the North Fork, the median sale price hit $905,000, a 15 percent increase. Bidding wars accounted for nearly half of sales.
Listing inventory, at 154, was about the same as a year ago but 73 percent higher than in the previous quarter. Still, inventory remained roughly one-third of what used to be normal on the North Fork.
As in the Hamptons, the number of sales declined year-over-year, with 157 deals completed — a 10 percent drop but a 38 percent increase from the previous quarter.
“We’re at the pivot point right now and we’re pivoting away from this unsustainable frenzy condition to something that is more evenly paced,” Miller said.