APRIL 2020 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 45
HOME SALES FORECAST
ROBUST REAL ESTATE MARKET WEATHERS ONE STORM, FACES ANOTHER
WHAT’S INSIDE
INSIDE
JOB
48 OPEN
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HOUSE PRESS HOME
BY CLAUDE SOLNIK
The Long Island residential real estate industry had a good run in 2019 and in early
2020, fueled by low interest rates and low unemployment and despite limitations on
state and local tax deductions, with robust demand and sometimes shrinking supply.
The coronavirus outbreak, however, has cast a cloud on real estate as well as other
industries since March, nearly erasing the rosy picture of life B.C. — before coronavirus
— amid growing uncertainty. Springtime is normally the strongest season for home
sales.
“The entry level marketplaces and the bread-and-butter price ranges are very active,”
Ann Conroy, CEO of Douglas Elliman Real Estate’s Long Island Division, said in early
March. "Interest rates are very low. As long as there’s affordability, you’ll have an
active market.”
Home sales closed in Nassau and Suffolk in 2019 reached 29,053 valued at $15.8
billion in a banner year, according to the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island
(MLSLI).
“What sold for X in 2018 wasn’t going to sell for X plus 10 percent in 2019,” Deirdre
O’Connell, CEO of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty, said. “It took a while for
homeowners to make adjustments in pricing that was more realistic.”
continued on page 46
Spring is typically peak residential real estate sale season on Long Island. (Getty Images)
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