Suffolk Closeup: Truly a crisis

A kind of good news is that the median selling price of a single-family home in Suffolk County declined — but, relatively, not much — from a record $760,000 in August to $740,000 last month, Newsday reported last week. In Nassau County, the price went from a record $910,000 in August to $860,000 last month. And for a house in Shelter Island, the Hamptons and Sag Harbor the selling prices have been and continue to be astronomical.   

Some bad news is that the interest on a typical 30-year mortgage has gone up to an average of 7.4% this month, nearly a full-percentage point since July, noted Newsday. The daily has been putting its pieces on housing under a label “Wallet Watch.” And, indeed, selling prices and mortgage costs take a huge bite out of wallets. 

Also, the price of homeowners insurance is jumping with insurance companies especially nervous about settlements resulting from the extreme weather that climate change is causing. And then there are property taxes.

The alternative of renting also carries sky-high costs here now.

In this space I’ve commented about how my SUNY Old Westbury investigative reporting students have related with dread their prospects for housing. Where can they go upon leaving their parents’ homes? Can they remain here? 

As to my perspective regarding the absence of affordability in housing in these times, as I have mentioned, my wife and I rented our first living space, a basement apartment in Hempstead, for $50 a month in 1961. Unbelievable today. We bought our first house in Sayville, in western Suffolk, for $19,000 in 1964. The mortgage had 3% interest. Deciding to head to the East End, we sold it for $39,000 in 1974, then using what we received we bought a century-old classic saltbox house in Noyac for $45,000.

One of my first series when I became a reporter in 1962 at the Babylon Town Leader were stories on the fear then of garden apartments in this town in the southwest corner of Suffolk County.

The fear was based, as residents I interviewed said, on Suffolk County becoming “another Queens.” Now, I grew up in Queens and appreciate folks in Suffolk wanting — as I, too, prefer — a less congested housing environment than the two-family house, in a string of two-family houses, along Francis Lewis Boulevard in St. Albans where we lived.

I wrote about the new garden apartments in Babylon Town leaving room for that standard on Long Island and indeed the U.S., a single family house. Moreover, I interviewed folks who lived in those garden apartments who explained that without one, they would be hard-pressed to pay for housing. And that was then.

In recent years, public officials on all levels in Suffolk County are looking for ways to deal with what truly is a housing crisis. This includes, in addition to garden apartments, other types of housing, especially what’s being called the accessory dwelling unit, or ADU. Its definition online is “a small, self-contained residential living space located on the same lot as a primary single-family home.” 

The ADU is the focus on Shelter Island. 

But there is still that fear of “another Queens” here. Somewhat of an example of this is a Newsday article in August headlined: “Single-family homes or apartments? Romaine, Piccirillo disagree on Suffolk County affordable housing.”

The piece by Joe Werkmeister began: “The surging cost of homes across Suffolk County has turned affordable housing into one of the county’s most pressing challenges. For government leaders, the question has become how to make owning or renting a home more affordable while preserving the area’s suburban character.”

“The debate,” it went on, “has exposed a divide between two of Suffolk’s Republican leaders, County Executive Edward P. Romaine, who has publicly supported some large developments, and Presiding Officer [of the Suffolk County Legislature and a Holtsville resident] Anthony Piccirillo.”

“Piccirillo described as an ‘ideological battle’ brewing over the county’s future direction,” said the story over his “stance on housing — opposing high density developments and rentals while advocating for single-family homes” that “puts him at odds with housing advocates and other lawmakers who view those as part of the solution to what the county has labeled a ‘crisis.’”

“Housing experts advocate for a diverse housing stock — townhouses, multifamily apartments and accessory dwelling units — saying it is critical to address the shortage and provide adequate housing,” the story continued.

“Romaine has cited boosting affordable housing as a priority since the start of his administration,” it said. “People need places to live that are affordable,” Romaine was quoted as saying.

Although the housing crisis is extreme in Suffolk, it’s a national problem.

Indeed, the SciLine program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science last month devoted a webinar for journalists — among a series forjournalists that SciLine has produced — titled: “Understanding the housing affordability crisis.”

The description of this “media briefing” was: “In the U.S., home prices and mortgage rates are rising. And polls show many Americans consider housing affordability an important issue in the lead-up to the 2026 midterm election.”

Speakers were housing specialists from across the nation. They gave presentations and answered questions from journalists. You can read a transcript of the hour-and-half webinar at sciline.org/economics/housing-affordability-2026/