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Long Island
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As home sales slow on Long Island, prices and inventory rise

<em>Despite a slight sales decline in May, Long Island's housing market continues to be tight.</em>
Despite a slight sales decline in May, Long Island's housing market continues to be tight.

Across Long Island, pending home sales slowed in May, marking the first retreat of the year after four months of gains.

Last month, 3,152 homes were contracted for sale in both Nassau and Suffolk counties, a 3.5 percent drop from the 3,264 contracted for sale from the same period in 2018, Long Island Business News reported.

In Suffolk, pending home sales declined 5.2 percent as the number of homes contracted for sale numbered 1,779 in May, down from 1,875 last year. In Nassau, pending sales fell 1.2 percent, from 1,389 in May 2018 to 1,373 last month, according to LIBN, which cited data from the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island.

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Despite the declines last month, overall home sales numbers in 2019 have outpaced last year. Between January and May 2018, 12,876 homes were contracted for sale throughout Long Island. So far this year, 13,497 homes were contracted for sale during that same timeframe, a nearly 5 percent year-over-year increase.

While sales have slowed, inventory has risen. As of early June, there were 13,265 homes listed for sale in Nassau and Suffolk counties, a 7.7 percent increase from the number on the market at the end of May 2018. Nassau reported a greater spike in inventory than its eastern neighbor, with a 14.4 percent increase, compared to 2.4 percent year-over-year in Suffolk.

Meanwhile, median home sale prices have also increased year-over-year, jumping 6.8 percent in Suffolk, to $390,000, and 2.9 percent in Nassau, to $530,000, according to Newsday. The rapid rise in Nassau prices and the county’s big tax bills seems to be pushing some buyers to Suffolk, brokers told the newspaper.

LIBN also reported last week that the median price of pending home sales in Suffolk hit $405,000 last month, its highest-ever mark in more than a decade. [LIBN] — Aidan Gardiner