What's fueling the red-hot real estate market on Long Island?

Finding a home for sale on Long Island can be challenging, to say the least, with a housing market as tight as it has been in decades.

William Levin, a broker with ReMax City Square in East Meadow, has been warning prospective buyers: They will have to decide very quickly if they find a home for sale they like.

"Chances are if it’s a nice property, it’s not going to be there a week from now," he said. "Once a listing hits the market, you usually have a bidding war if it’s priced right."

The cause of the frenzy? Simple economics, really — a shrinking inventory of houses for sale, and plenty of demand.

According to the Elliman Real Estate report, only about 3,200 Long Island homes were on the market in the last quarter of 2024. That's the lowest figure since 2003.

The result: The median home price on Long Island has jumped to $700,000.

"What you’re seeing is record prices, and supply or choices for consumers [being] very limited," said Jonathan Miller, the author of the Elliman Report.

The limited housing inventory is a nationwide problem, which Miller said is driven by higher interest rates.

"Consumers locked into a mortgage rate of three or four percent from four or five years ago aren’t selling," said Miller.

He notes that usually when interest rates increase, home prices drop — but the low inventory of homes for sale has turned that on its ear.

"I’ve been doing this for 40 years and have ever seen a phenomenon like this that’s this extreme," Miller said.

And prospective home buyers looking for some good news on the horizon shouldn't get their hopes up. Miller said the issue is a nationwide problem that has no end in sight, at least for now. It's making homes too expensive for some, and forcing others to spend more for less.

"You do want to have more of a balance of sellers looking to sell, and buyers looking to buy," Miller said.

From NBC New York.