Home buyers and sellers have plenty of reasons to look forward to the next few months of the market after a strong showing in November and December, reports suggest.
The median price of homes that sold on the island for the months of November and December 2019 were higher than the median sales price of those months in 2018, according to statistics from the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island (MLSLI). The typical home in Nassau County sold for $534,500 last November and $538,000 last December. The previous year saw median sales prices in the county hit $525,000 in November and $515,000 in December. Overall, those numbers represent a 1.8 percent and a 4.5 percent increase for their respective months when compared to 2018, an encouraging sign for prospective sellers across the county and the capstone of a strong market all year round.
“From a year ago, there’s been nothing but steady increases in the median sales prices in Nassau and Suffolk,” MLSLI President Michael Scully said. “That’s been pretty steady since December of last year.”
While the winter months are generally marked by fewer house sales than other seasons, Scully said the notion that the market goes away when it gets cold out is something of a misnomer.
“Historically, there’s a misconception that spring is the best time to sell your house,” Scully said. “But you can get steady fall and winter buyers. Anybody out now is a serious buyer.”
On the buyer’s side of the equation, Scully noted friendly interest rates are giving people more of an incentive to purchase a home than they would have otherwise. Taken in tandem with the uptick in median prices, the island’s housing market has major positives on both sides of the buyer-seller divide.
“It’s good for both parties,” he said. “As a seller, you can sell any time, by proof of the December statistics. And for the buyers, these interest rates are particularly attractive. It’s really a market for both sides.”
