Tight house market in the Five Towns

The real estate industry is having some of its busiest months in years Five Towns-based real estate agents said as people seek to leave crowded urban areas and move to the suburbs. The main issue is there are more buyers than sellers creating a tight market.

Housing market activity this June jumped 20.7 percent from May 2020, according to the National Association of Realtors. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to a record low of 2.87 percent in July, according to Mortgage News Daily.

Alex and Leah Sajovits of VI Properties in Hewlett primarily deal with Five Towns homes but also work with properties in surrounding South Shore communities such as Baldwin, Freeport, Lynbrook, Merrick and Rockville Centre.

Alex Sajovits noted that business has been good for them despite the pandemic. “I think it’s a very strong market right now and there’s a huge demand right now,” he said. “We just need to encourage more sellers to go out and sell their house.”

Leah Sajovits acknowledged that it is more of a seller’s market in the Five Towns. “Right now there’s definitely more buyers than sellers and the market is hot,” she said. “But we don’t have enough inventory right now. There is a lot of inventory in the North Shore compared to the South Shore and Five Towns."

Even before the coronavirus pandemic, Sajovits noted that people from New York City have been interested in moving to the suburbs. “We’ve always had a flux of Queens and Brooklyn people and now I would say that we have more people from Manhattan as well,” she said. “What’s happening is that we have all these potential buyers coming in from the Queens, Brooklyn and the City, but we can’t help them at the moment due to the lack of inventory.”

Gil Shemtov is a real estate agent for Douglas Elliman who exclusively works with Five Towns properties. He described business as busy for him. “Despite the global pandemic, now is the time for people to sell,” he said. “Many buyers are looking to move and the inventory is low.”

Leah Sajovits emphasized that inventory is key for her and her husband when it comes to business for them going forward. “If anyone is thinking of selling or having a thought about it, now is the time to give us a call at (917) 678-7202,” she said. “We will work through the entire process of either buying or selling a house with you.”

Shemtov can reached at (516) 835-3333.