By KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
NYSORPS figures show the median price for a Long Beach home four years ago was $180,000. That price jumped to $246,500 in 2000. Despite a grim economy, some Realtors say that the market will still increase, though not as dramatically.
"I think Long Beach is thriving right now and will continue on its upswing," said Joe Sinnona, owner and broker of Joe Sinnona Realty, Inc.
Long Beach Realtors said many factors are responsible for the increase in value. Rentals have increased in the last few years, and Vicky Bartko of Century 21 Petry said many of those renters have become buyers since interest rates have dropped in recent years.
Economists don't deny the nation is in a slowing economy, and one expert believes that "Sept. 11, if anything, precipitated or aggravated the [economic] condition that was relatively weak to begin with." Roberto Mazzoleni, Assistant Economics professor at Hofstra University, says it is a possibility that the economy will pick up by mid-year, 2002.
One resident, who declined to give his name, sold and bought a home in Long Beach in May. He reports that his old house appreciated to such a great degree that he was able to put a substantial payment down on his new home. The unidentified homeowner said "prices of loans in Long Beach are very high and if you do not have the money...you can not afford to buy a house in Long Beach."
Native Long Beacher Jim Hennessy, who bought his home in August, said that he was lucky when he stumbled on the house. Under special circumstances, Hennessy was able to buy the three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bathroom house for under $200,000, which he believes is a great price in Long Beach. Hennessy, who spent three months looking for a house, had been starting to believe it would be impossible to find one in his hometown.
Meanwhile, many Realtors can't seem to agree if the current market favors the buyer or the seller.
"After Sept. 11, we went from a sellers' market to a buyers' market," said Don Walis, Co-owner of Ryan & Walis Realty. "This has been a buyers market ever since. Buyers now have the luxury to look at a home two or three times before they make an offer."
Some Realtors believe Sept. 11 has shifted sales slightly making it a buyers' market, while others say the market is just beginning to shift. "It's at the tail end of a sellers' market," Sinnona said.
In neighboring towns like Island Park, some Realtors agree with Walis that the current annual increase will not continue. In 1997-2000, the median increased in Island Park on average $25,200 per year. Henry Hastava, owner of Hastava Realty, said the annual increase will become lower with the slow economy.
In the Village of Atlantic Beach sales are holding steady. In 1997-2000, Atlantic Beach's median home price increased $186,500 per year, keeping in mind that homes in Atlantic Beach are higher priced than homes in Long Beach or Island Park. Realtors believe they will keep their steady annual increase and will see a sight rise in sales, Connie Kenney, owner of Connie Kenney Realty, Inc., said.
As for Long Beach, Walis said things should get easier on prospective home buyers in the near future.
"It will be leveling off," Walis said. "It's a buyers market and sellers will not be getting what they are asking for."
