Credit crunch hasn't hit rich in Nassau County, N.Y.
— -- The real estate climates vary widely in Nassau County, which is a patchwork of two cities, three towns and dozens of villages and hamlets stitched together over 286 square miles on Long Island.
Some of the more affordable homes, averaging $300,000 to $400,000, can be found in such areas as Freeport, Baldwin and Bellmore. These areas are still seeing quite a few distressed sales from homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, says Lydia Green, an agent with Re/Max Action in Freeport.
Overall, she says, sales contracts are up a bit, but prices are down 5% to 10% from last year.
In upper-middle-income areas such as Great Neck, the average sales price is closer to $900,000, also down slightly from last year, says Joey Sanders, branch manager for Coldwell Banker's Great Neck office. Prices are down by about 5%, maybe a little more. There's also an unusually high six- to nine-month inventory of homes for sale, Sanders says, and the average home sits on the market for 150 to 180 days.
At the upper end, in places such as Locust Valley, Oyster Cove and Kings Point, there was no fallout from the subprime mortgage mess, and there are signs that the spring selling season may have begun early.
"We are seeing more foot traffic through all of our houses, and, if the house is priced right, multiple bids," says Bonnie Devendorf, vice president of Daniel Gale Sotheby's in Locust Valley.
The one thing Nassau County's 1.3 million residents all share is high property taxes. With a median tax bill of $7,700, Nassau's property-tax burden is the nation's second-highest among counties, according to the Tax Foundation.
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