By Angela Marshall
Of the 55 school districts in Nassau County, Rockville Centre had the 13th highest median price in 2002, according to a summary provided by the New York State Office of Real Property Services. The school district's median home sale price rose $51,500 from 2001, when it was $451,500. A few family-to-family sales for below market price have been included, and affect the median. However, there were also four sales over $1 million in the village last year.
Vito and Eileen Martino, who have lived in the village for 32 years, recently advertised their Princeton Road home in a local daily paper and have been amazed at how many calls they are getting from within the village. Mr. Martino said he must have gotten 30 calls within a few days from villagers wanting to move up but not move out. The village is doing well, he said.
The Martinos spend six months of the year in Florida and want to spend the other six months on the East End of Long Island, for the summer activities. But Mr. Martino said they will miss the village.
Another villager, looking to sell her Andover Road home, which no longer meets her growing family's needs, for over a million dollars said she has her eye on another home in the village. If she can't sell her home in time to make the deal on that house, she said, she'll do renovations on her own home rather than move. I don't want to leave the area, she said.
Elizabeth Wallace, of Century 21 Sherlock Homes, said home prices are leveling off now but that Rockville Centre is still a big draw. She said some of the reasons behind the village's popularity over other South Shore communities are the quality of the school district, the beautiful old homes and the great commute into the city.
Another advantage, she said, is the village's walkability. You could live in Rockville Centre and not have a car, and that would be OK, Wallace said.
Because the school district includes portions of South Hempstead, Wallace believes the area's median home price does not accurately reflect sales within the incorporated village. She said an entry-level house located in both the incorporated village and the Rockville Centre School District starts at $500,000. There is nothing available in the $300,000 area unless it takes a breathtaking amount of work, she said.
Home values in South Hempstead are lower because residents there do not benefit from the village services, electric, water and sanitation. Several of the South Hempstead homes sold last year were priced over $300,000. Wallace called it a sweet little area and a real good buy.
