Long Island home sales continued on a tear,
with the highest first quarter volume in thirteen
years. Housing prices have risen for three
consecutive years as inventory slipped. There
were 5,478 sales, up 28.4% over the prior
year quarter. Pending sales showed a similar
pattern, rising 22.2% to 6,707 over the same
period. Listing inventory declined 6.9% to
13,741 homes from the same period last year.
As a result of rising sales and falling inventory
the pace of the market moved faster. The
absorption rate, the number of months to sell all
inventory at the current rate of sales, fell 27.9%
to 7.5 months, the fastest paced first quarter in
at least 16 years…