Still-sluggish Hamptons sales market buoyed by highs and lows

(source: Town & Country Real Estate)

The highest and lowest ends of the sales market kept East End real estate alive during the first half of 2011 even as activity dwindled.

Nine of the 12 main Hamptons sales markets saw fewer closings during the first six months of the year than they did during the same period in 2010, Town & Country Real Estate said today, resulting in a 9 percent decline in Hamptons home sales overall. In some areas, the declines were severe: the number of sales dropped by 25 percent in Westhampton and 21 percent in Amagansett, for example.

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But in many markets, the sales that did happen were largely in the upper echelon in terms of pricing, Town & Country’s data shows.

Median sales prices rose year-over-year in seven of the 12 markets the brokerage tracked, even in those that appeared to be struggling with sluggish transaction activity (Westhampton’s prices jumped by 12 percent; Amagansett’s prices rose by 16 percent). In Sag Harbor, where the number of home sales rose by a slight 5 percent, the median home sales price surged by 37 percent and the dollar volume of home sales doubled to $94.4 million, from $46.7 million during the first six months of 2010.

Across the entire East End, the number of sales rose for homes priced above $3.5 million and below $500,000, but declined in all price categories in between. — Sarabeth Sanders