The following is an analysis of the Long Island housing market for the month of February as reported by the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island:

"Despite extreme weather conditions this winter, contracted home sales activity on Long Island has seen a surge in February compared to January. Many buyers that have been sitting on the sidelines are starting to see the window of opportunity quickly closing. Interest rates that cannot stay this low for too much longer has serious buyers searching for a new home again." - Dorothy Aschkar, 2011 MLSLI President

The closed median home price on Long Island, which includes Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens, for February 2011 was $355,000 representing a 1.4 % increase over the year prior. Nassau County reported a closed median home price of $396,750 representing a 3.1 % increase from the prior year.

Suffolk County reported a closed median home price of $300,000 compared to $325,000 from the prior year that represents a 7.7 % decrease and Queens reported a closed median home price of $360,000 which represents the highest gain of 3.5 % over a year ago. The contracted (pending) median sales price of a Long Island residential property was $341,500 in February 2011, down 2.4 % from $350,000 in the same period last year.

Inventory is up slightly with 29,655 units in February 2011 compared to 29,175 a year prior. Buyers still have plenty of inventory to choose from. Inventory levels should expand as the spring market revs up.

Overall, experts in the industry see the development of broad fundamentals for a gradual housing recovery. Job growth, high housing affordability and rising apartment rent are conducive to bringing more buyers into the market. Some buyers may be looking to real estate as a hedge against potential long term future inflation.

According to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, Inc. (MLSLI), the December 2010 closed median home price on Long Island, which includes Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens sales, was $360,000, compared to $355,000 last year. Suffolk and Queens reported an increase in closed median home prices while Nassau County reported a $397,000 closed median home price, which was slightly lower than $400,000 reported in December 2009. Suffolk County reported a closed median of $327,000 for December, which was 0.6 percent higher than $325,000 reported a year ago. In Queens, the closed median home price was $358,610, representing a 5.5 percent increase over $339,888 reported last December.

Dorothy Aschkar, 2011 MLSLI President reported that "Long Island ended 2010 with a $362,000 closed median home price for the year, which was almost the same as $363,000 reported in 2009. We also had more closed sales transactions in 2010 compared to 2009, which was driven by the tax credit incentive but is still a positive sign of a market recovery." Aschkar said," I believe the market has reached the point of sustainable levels." Aschkar notes, "Affordable mortgage interest rates and stable home prices, which combined with continued job growth and rising rents, will encourage more renters to consider homeownership."

The bright spot in the real estate market is that housing affordability conditions have been extremely favorable on Long Island. MLSLI reports the Housing Affordability Index (HAI) on a monthly basis for Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens and the index has been consistently above the 100 mark for well over a year. The HAI is a broad measure of housing affordability using consistent values and assumptions over time that examines the relationship between home prices, mortgage interest rates and family income.

As 2010 comes to a close, we want to provide a look back over the past 11 months worth of real estate market data.

We have provided links to detailed reports about the housing market in Nassau and Suffolk counties.  These reports are in PDF format.

Suffolk market data, click here.

Nassau market data, click here.

These reports contain a wealth of information, some of which may look foreign to the non-real estate professional.  We welcome any questions you may have about these reports, the current value of your home or the real estate market in your local community.

To speak with a real estate professional within our firm, please contact us.

May you have a wonderful holiday season a prosperous New Year!