Homes in flood zones often lose value, but on Long Island, home to some of the most expensive waterfront in the country, the picture is far more complex — that’s what PropertyShark’s latest study revealed.
On the East End, the coastal appeal still outweighs flood risk, where buyers are willing to pay more despite or because of the water’s proximity, according to the five-year analysis. While there is typically a 10% price premium for Long Island flood-zone homes, on the North and South Forks there is a much wider margin.
Suffolk County boasted many of the strongest premiums, while Nassau County’s flood-zone parcels aligned with high-value coastal housing against others, where they reflected more modest stock and clear discounts.
The study looked at home prices in the Federal Emergency Management Administration’s (FEMA) flood zones across Suffolk and Nassau Counties compared to home prices outside flood areas. Based on residential sales data on Long Island from January 1, 2021, to November 30, 2025, the study found that properties located in flood zones sold for a $690,000 median sale price, 10% higher than homes outside risk areas.
But on the East End, the numbers are off the charts.
Three of the six hamlets that carry 50% and higher flood zone premiums are on the East End. Westhampton Beach recorded the highest flood zone premium at 121%, with homes in FEMA flood zones selling for $2.65 million compared to $1.2 million outside risk areas. Quogue came in next with homes in risk-prone areas sold at $3.5 million, 79% more than the $1.95 million median for non-flood zones.
“Notably, more than one-quarter of Quogue and one-third of Westhampton Beach home sales took place in FEMA flood zones,” the study says.
Riverhead, a more moderately priced market, saw prices in flood zones 58% higher than in non-flood zones.
The other two areas on Long Island coming above 50% were Islip, Huntington and Glen Cove. The latter two hamlets show homes outside of flood zones sold in the $700,000-range, while those inside flood-zone areas were at 57% and 51%, to above $1 million.
Homes on both the North and South Fork consistently recorded flood zone premiums, with Riverhead coming in at 58%, Southold at 40%, East Hampton at 39% and Sagaponack at 32%. In Sagaponack, the No. 3 most expensive zip code in the country, homes outside of flood zones sold for a median $7.6 million, while those in these high-risk waterfront areas traded at a $10 million median sale price.
Homes in flood zones sold for $654,000 in Suffolk County, 16% higher than those outside FEMA-designated risk areas. Meanwhile, in Nassau, aggregate county-level data showed price neutrality between homes within and those outside flood zones, both categories selling at a $700,000 median sale price over the past five years.
Sales of the flood-zone homes accounted for 7% of all Long Island residential sales over the past five years, according to PropertyShark. “When broken down by property type, two- to four-family homes were the clear frontrunners with a 17% premium in flood zones. They were followed by single-family homes with an 11% premium and condominiums at a 4% premium,” the study says.
“These figures highlight that, in many cases, flood-zone status on Long Island overlaps with the most desirable coastal and waterfront real estate, rather than functioning as a drag on value. That said, these aggregate trends mask a significant local variation in how flood-zone designations influence home prices — and county- and town-level results vary sharply.”
On the North Fork, in addition to Riverhead’s strong showing, Southold and Shelter Island’s medians in FEMA flood zones come in roughly 30% to 40% higher than non-flood medians.
“Taken together, the last five years of sales data show that flood zone pricing on Long Island is shaped far more by local characteristics than by any single directional trend. Islandwide, flood-zone homes sold at higher medians, but the underlying picture is defined by uneven patterns across counties, regions and individual communities,” the study concluded.
“In effect, flood-zone status on Long Island functions less as a universal market penalty or advantage and more as a marker that amplifies each area’s existing housing profile, producing outcomes that vary widely from town to town.”
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Of the 31 Long Island communities studied, 20 saw premiums for flood zone homes, while 10 showed discounts — some of which, as expected, are in the Hamptons.
Across property types, flood-zone premiums reached 17% for two- to four-family homes; 11% for single-family homes; and 4% for condos.
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