Why Long Island millennials are moving here

Rose and Joseph Perrone looked for their dream home for 18 years.

They scoured the South Shore of Long Island. They found homes that didn’t meet their expectations. They were outbid on homes that did. Sometimes, they couldn’t agree on what they wanted. At their breaking point, the Perrones even considered leaving the state to live near family in Virginia or Georgia.

But their hearts were always set on Long Island.

In the meantime, they lived in what Rose Perrone described as a “tiny apartment” in Holbrook. The couple had to take turns walking through the front door and taking off their shoes — that’s how small the entryway was, she said.

The couple always imagined their next home would be different.

“My husband really wanted a two-car attached garage,” said Perrone, 40. “I wanted a big entryway and a beautiful block where we could walk to a park. Those were the sticking points for us.”

Then, it finally happened: The couple and their 5-year-old son, Everett, recently moved into their forever home in Bay Shore.

“We had just put other offers on houses that didn’t work out,” Perrone said. “This is probably the fourth house we seriously considered.”

With the right real estate agent, some flexibility and knowing where to look for help, millennials — those born between 1981 and 1996, per the Pew Research Center — are becoming first-time homebuyers all over Long Island. Among the regions gaining popularity in this age group, agents say, is the South Shore of Suffolk County.

“Babylon, Bay Shore and Islip are the more popular areas,” said Colleen Colasacco of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International Realty. “Definitely for millennials, specifically.”

There are a few reasons, but Colasacco, a Bay Shore resident, has started to notice a theme. 

“What I see is a lot of times, people who grew up out here may have moved into the city or said, ‘I’m never going to live where I grew up,'” she said. “But ultimately, they’re gravitating back this way because there are options that are affordable, and places that are interesting and vibrant.”

‘A tough battle’

I think millennials get a lot of pressure from parents, and I think we’re feeling that without truly being able to afford it. So it’s been a tough battle, but I’m proud we’re still out there.

Amanda Mas-Spears

Amanda Mas-Spears is a millennial real estate agent at Coach Realtors in Mount Sinai. Her primary clients are close to her own age, and she has assisted many of them on lengthy searches for their ideal home.

But millennials don’t tend to give up easily and are willing to make sacrifices to forgo renting a place, she said.

“The Long Island rental market is just as competitive, if not more competitive, than the owning side of things,” said Mas-Spears, 35. “I think millennials get a lot of pressure from parents, and I think we’re feeling that without truly being able to afford it. So it’s been a tough battle, but I’m proud we’re still out there.”

Laura Thompson, 36, and her husband, Sean Thompson, also 36, bought their home in Islip Terrace in 2021.

“We had been living in Hauppauge, in an apartment at an aunt and uncle’s house, for seven years,” she said.

The couple bought the house for $415,000. They moved into their two-bedroom, one-bathroom home with their now 2-year-old triplets. The family also welcomed their fourth child this year.

As a nurse at Stony Brook University Hospital, a straightforward commute was an added bonus for Laura. But the East Islip School District was a main selling point for them, he said, and they’re finishing the basement to expand their living space. They now live three houses down from her sister-in-law, and it was important for the Thompsons to live near family.

“We got lucky with the house,” she said. “It’s a little smaller than we wanted, but the price was right.”

While walking around Islip Terrace, Laura has noticed all sorts of ages on her block.

“Our next-door neighbor’s kids are in college,” she said. “But on the other side, they have babies, so it’s a little bit of a mix.”

Playing the lottery

I grew up here and I would love for my children to grow up here. But in the last couple years since COVID, it’s become largely unaffordable for most millennials.

— Sam Law

For millennial renters, using local resources is essential, said Sam Law, 36. She lives in one of the new apartment buildings near the Long Island Rail Road station in Wyandanch.

“I was looking to move out of my parents’ home,” she said. “I ended up applying to the apartment through their lottery…