Real Estate Sales on Long Island Tale of 2 Counties

While Nassau County real estate is holding it's own, Suffolk County is still struggling. Last September there were 698 homes put under contract in Nassau County, this September 691 - that's a 1% drop. On the other hand our sister County Suffolk had 851 homes sold last September and only 780 this year - an 8% drop. Real estate is local and different towns in Nassau are doing better than others. While year to date Nassau has 5% less under contract activity than last year - there are some towns that handsomely beat that record. All year long the town of Wantagh has been defying the county averages and stands 14% above last year's under contract figures. Our own town of Plainview has just broken through last years pace and now stands 9% above last year's activity. Levittown's market has made no headway against last year's figures and stands even year to date. Massapequa which is a very big market is up 1% while Hicksville and Farmingdale are still down 9%.Some of the big losers so far this year are Bethpage down 19%, Syosset down 14%, Bellmore down 17% and Elmont down 21%. Although interest rates are the lowest we've seen in our lifetime, the jobs picture is still the big story in the national and local economy. Although we are a little disappointed with this month's figures, we still think there is a better than 50% chance Nassau county will beat last years activity levels and next year can improve on that performance.