Decline in Lynbrook Home Values: Good or Bad?

For years, many Nassau County homeowners were enjoying watching the value of their homes balloon to the point where they would most likely make a sizable profit come selling time. But with the closing of the 2010 books, Nassau's housing market seems to have gone back in time, with homes selling at prices seen at the beginning of the last decade.

According to a Prudential Douglas Elliman report on home sales for quarters 1-3 — 4th-quarter numbers are not yet available — the average Lynbrook home sold for $379,228 in 2010. Compare this to 2003, when the average home sold for $369,082.

The national economic recession has a lot to do with it, some experts say, with increases in foreclosures and evictions throwing a wrench in the usually self-regulating housing market. However, others in the real estate business see the current trend as something that was inevitable, as home prices on Nassau's south shore had spiked to an average of $550,000 just before the recession, and that the subsequent housing crisis does have somewhat of a silver lining.

"This was not a market that could have sustained itself with these numbers," said Charlie Maione, local realtor and member of the Lynbrook Chamber of Commerce. "This had to happen. In the 1990s, there was an unbelievable spike in buying and selling homes — an abnormal spike. And now you have this falling off of the cliff."

Even as the market has stabilized, Maione says that the federal government's intervention — the buying up of foreclosed homes and issuing of different home-buyer tax credits, to name a few — has created an "artificial pumping of the balloon," in that the market really hasn't had a chance to recover on its own. For example, there were 25 percent more Nassau County homes sold in the 2nd quarter of 2010 — when government-issued tax credits were in full swing — than in the 3rd quarter, when most had expired. Maione said he anticipates at least two or three more years before home prices begin climbing again.

So what's a potential home-seller to do in these uncertain economic times?

"Most people, when I interview them or do a home sale, I say if you can sit back and wait for a couple years, don't sell now … enjoy your home," Maione said. "It's the timing of things. If you can ride it out, I almost tell people: 'Don't sell, leave your home the way it is, don't put it on the market to play … you know it's not really gonna be what you want.'"

If you insist on selling your home, you should do so with the understanding that you likely won't be making the handsome profit you might have a couple of years ago, according to Lynbrook realtor Hilary Becker, who is also a member of the village board.

"The sellers have to come to grips with the reality that the market is way down," Becker said. "You have to price your home in such a compelling fashion that when a buyer walks into that home, they say 'Boom, this is a great value.' Otherwise you just give them a reason to keep looking at other opportunities."

But while sellers may be frustrated by the lower prices, the flip side is that people in the market to buy a home will find some great deals.

"It's a great time to buy," Becker added. "Mortgage and interest rates are still at record lows and buyers have multiple homes to choose from. Prices are 20 to 30 percent or more below the historic highs seen in '06 and '07."

Maione agrees. "To buy a home, the affordability index is at an all-time high," he said. "When you look back over history, it's very, very rare that you have very low prices and low mortgage rates. If you're an investor and you have cash, you should be doing backflips."

For more information on home prices and recent sales in Nassau County, visit the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, Inc.

Home sales in the 3rd quarter of 2010

The following are Lynbrook homes sold in the 3rd quarter of 2010. Statistics for the 4th quarter have not yet been released.

• 6 Grace Avenue, a seven-room Victorian in the Malverne School District, sold for $350,000 on Oct. 15, 2010.
• 4 Leroy Place, a nine-room Colonial in the Lynbrook School District, sold for $385,000 on Nov. 12, 2010.
• 124 Earle Avenue, an eight-room Colonial in the Lynbrook School District, sold for $525,000 on Nov. 23, 2010.
• 121 Walnut Street, an eight-room Colonial in the Lynbrook School District, sold for $385,000 on Oct. 20, 2010.
• 70 Charles Street, an eight-room Colonial in the Malverne School District, sold for $340,000 on Nov. 2, 2010.