Listen to this articleOctober Long Island home sales improved year-over-year, though mortgage rates have recently risen.
There were 2,237 homes contracted for sale in Nassau and Suffolk counties last month, 207 more than the previous month and an increase of 9.7 percent from the 2,039 homes contracted for sale in Oct. 2023, according to preliminary numbers from OneKey MLS.
The number of available homes for sale fell slightly after several months of increases. There were 5,478 Long Island homes listed for sale with OneKeyMLS—2,340 in Nassau and 3,138 in Suffolk—as of Thursday. That’s up 6.8 percent from the 5,124 homes that were listed for sale at the end of Oct. 2023, but 5 percent fewer than the 5,761 homes that were listed for sale at the end of Sept. 2024.
Home prices pulled back somewhat in Nassau County last month. The median price of closed home sales (including single-family, condos and co-ops) was $770,000, down 5.3 percent from the high of $813,000 in August, but still 6.8 percent higher than the $721,000 median price recorded in Oct. 2023.
In Suffolk, home prices remained at record highs. The median price of closed home sales last month was $650,000, the same as it’s been for the last three months.
Mortgage rates have been surging. The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage in New York this week is 6.9 percent, according to NerdWallet.com. That’s compared with 6.35 percent in the beginning of October and just under 6 percent in September.
Meanwhile, the challenging housing market conditions of low inventory and high prices have lowered the number of first-time home buyers and raised the average age of home buyers.
Nationally, the first-time homebuyer market share decreased to a historic low of 24 percent for the 12 months ending in June 2024, which is down from 32 percent from the previous year, according to a statement from the National Association of Realtors. In addition, NAR reports that the average age of home buyers hit an all-time high of 56. Last year the average age was 49, and 38 years for first-time buyers, a jump from the average age of 35 last year.
“The U.S. housing market is split into two groups: first-time buyers struggling to enter the market and current homeowners buying with cash,” Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in the statement. “First-time buyers face high home prices, high mortgage interest rates and limited inventory, making them a decade older with significantly higher incomes than previous generations of buyers. Meanwhile, current homeowners can more easily make housing trades using built-up housing equity for cash purchases or large down payments on dream homes.”