Home sales on Long Island are down year over year, according to a new report by Miller Samuel Inc., the Manhattan-based residential appraisal and consulting services firm, produced for Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate.
“We saw continued weakness in prices,” says Jonathan Miller, Miller Samuel president and chief executive.
Miller cites a 4.8 percent decrease in median sales prices, from $356,050 in the fourth quarter of 2010 to $339,000 for the same period in 2011.
Although the total number of active listings slipped 1.6 percent, from 18,742 listings in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 18,447 in the fourth quarter of last year, Miller says the drop was nominal, considering the wave of negative economic news, such as the European debt crisis and the long summer of the debt-ceiling debate.
The number of sales were down as well — 0.7 percent, from 4,252 in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 4,222 in the fourth quarter of last year. The average number of days on the market was 130 in the fourth quarter of 2011, which is 11 days longer than in the same quarter of 2010.
On a brighter note, sales activity improved in North Shore communities of Suffolk County. There was a 15.5-percent jump for the quarter, from 187 to 216 sales. Average days on the market were 10 fewer, year over year. The median sales price, however, dropped 4.2 percent, to $431,000.