The Long Island housing market recently showed growth at the end of 2013 with a boost in housing prices. This meant more sales, but, at the same time, resulted in the lowest inventory numbers in more than ten years.

Miller Samuel, a brokerage firm, and the real estate firm Douglas Elliman released a report that presented the median housing price on Long Island (excluding the East End) at $360,000—a 2.9% increase from Q4 2012. In addition, 5,982 homes were sold during that time, a 31.8% increase from the last three months of 2012.

As more houses were sold, fewer of them were on the market. In Q4 2013, there were 12,801 listings— a 12.2% year-over-year decrease. This rate was also at its lowest level since 2001.

Factors that contributed to the improvement included an increase in demand and a rise in mortgage rates. Hurricane Sandy caused a major detriment in home sales by decreasing home prices. However, Q4 2013 showed a 1.7% increase in the median home sale price within the storm-damaged section of Nassau County from one year prior.

Another report from Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman compared last year’s housing market numbers to 2004. The median sale price for all of Long Island in 2013 was $361,000—6.5% lower than the average price in 2004. These numbers are expected to improve during this year.