The higher-end of Hamptons housing is suffering.
The median sales price of a home south of socio-economic demarcation Route 27 on the South Fork of Long Island was $900,000 in the second quarter of 2009, appropriately hefty but down 41.9 percent from the same period in 2008, according to a new report from Prudential Douglas Elliman (DOUG) and Miller Samuel. (The median for the Hamptons generally was $770,000, down 20.6 percent annually.)
It’s a price tumble, indeed, for the tonier portions of the Hamptons, one mirrored in other parts (see below). The Douglas Elliman-Miller Samuel report reflects closed deals in April, May and June; and therefore reflects a post-Lehman economy.
The median sales price for the top-fifth of the market, by number of sales, dropped 4.9 percent annually to $3,325,000; the bottom fifth, by 24.8 percent, to $327,000.
Other the-way-we-live-now stats:
The median for north of Route 27 was $712,500, down 18.1 percent annually.
The average Hamptons home price was $1,500,735, down 13.3 percent annually.
The number of Hamptons home sales was 231, down 34.4 percent annually.
The inventory of unsold Hamptons homes on the market was up 14.2 percent over second quarter 2008.
And, finally, it should be noted that most Hamptons price and sales indices increased from the first to the second quarter of 2009, probably due more to typical seasonal buying and selling—it’s the year-over-year comparisons that are apples to apples.
tacitelli@observer.com
