By Hank Russell
It seems like the same old song in the Long Island real estate market: home prices kept going up while home sales went on a downward trend.
According to the most recent data from the New York State of REALTORSⓇ (NYSAR), Nassau’s median sales price last month was at $817,000, up 3.7% from the previous September, when the price was $788,000. Meanwhile, Suffolk’s home price went up year over year by 6.9% from $650,000 to $695,000. Both prices are higher than the state median price, which is $427,628.
Sales, unlike home prices, were down, NYSAR said. In Nassau, there were 905 closings — a 2.8% decline compared to September 2024, when 931 homes were sold. Last month, 1,139 sales were completed; that is a 1% decrease. In September of last year, there were 1,150 closings.
While there were more new homes on the market, the number of existing homes available became smaller. Nassau saw 7.4% more listings at 1,185 in September 2025, as opposed to 1,103 last year; however, the number of homes for sale slid 3.3% from 2,699 in September 2024 to 2,609 the previous month.
Inventory also fell; Nassau went from having a 3.3- to 3.1-month supply. Suffolk’s inventory dropped from 3.3 to 3.2 months. That is lower than the state’s inventory, which has a 3.5-month supply of inventory.
In its quarterly report, NYSAR found that Nassau’s median sales price is $830,000 in the third quarter of this year. This is 4.4% higher than the previous quarter, when the median price was $795,000. The median sales price in Suffolk was up 5.4% from $650,000 in the third quarter of last year to $685,000 in Q3 2025. This was higher than the state’s median price of $443,250.
The last three months saw optimism in the new listings, but the number of homes for sale darkened. According to NYSAR, there were 3,422 new listings — a 4.6% increase over the same quarter in 2024, when there were 3,273. Suffolk’s new listings were up 2.6% to 4,709 from 4,590 in Q3 2024.
As for homes available for sale, that was a different story. Nassau had 2,609 houses on the market in Q3 2025 while, in the same quarter last year, there were 2,699 homes for sale — a 3.3% decline. The number of available listings in Suffolk dropped 0.8% to 3,594 in the third quarter from 3,623 the same quarter last year.
Inventory dropped in Nassau from 3.3 months’ supply to 3.1 months. Suffolk’s inventory also fell to 3.2 months from 3.3 months. This is lower than the state’s inventory of 3.5 months’ supply of inventory.
“The market is trying very hard to recover,” said Charles Rutenberg Realty Broker Joe Moshé. “All the sellers that have been sitting on the sidelines for the last several years are finally coming to grips with the reality that they have to move on with their lives. There is still difficulty on the buying side because of mortgage rates, and first-time homebuyers having the deposits required to put down.”
Despite the slight increase in sales and in listings,”the fact that the home sales prices are still increasing is an indication that is not yet a buyer’s market,” Moshé said. “Hopefully this trend continues.”