Hamptons Report: Champagne Wishes and Caviar Nightmares

We don't spend much time discussing the state of the Hamptons real estate market, because that little sun-kissed paradise is normally even more insulated than our precious isle of Manhattan, but holy crap, the Hamptons just got its teeth kicked in. The Prudential Douglas Elliman/Miller Samuel third-quarter sales report for the Hamptons/North Fork area was just released, and the numbers are a triple whammy: the median sales price ($729,000) was down 17.3% from last year, inventory is up 11.3% and number of sales decreased 16.9%. When the Hamptons are isolated, the news is just as bad (unless you enjoy schadenfreude): the median sales price of $830,000 is a 19.4% drop from the third quarter of 2007. Listing inventory is up 9.8% to 1,561 units, and number of sales decreased a staggering 28.8% to 257. Miller Samuel's Jonathan Miller also looked at the "Luxury Market" (the upper 10% of all sales), and that median was $4.8 million, a big number, but down 26.7% from last year. Grim all around, but our congratulations go out to Sagaponack, which had the highest average sales price, at $13 million—though that is based on only two sales. Maybe next year, Puffy's White Party should be an "In the Red" Party?
· 3Q 2008 Hamptons/North Fork Market Overview [Elliman; online later today]
· Ho-Ho-NO! Hamptons Housing Prices Tank [The Real Estate]
· Market Reports coverage [Curbed]For more stories from Curbed, go to curbed.com.

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