Home sales in the Hamptons fall 60 percent

The number of home sales in the Hamptons dropped 58 percent year-over-year as the recession continued to decrease demand for second homes, according to a market report released yesterday by Town & Country Real Estate. The Hamptons real estate company’s report uses first-quarter closing data from the Long Island Real Estate Report, a company that tracks Long Island real estate deals. The Hamptons median home price dropped 4.4 percent to $950,000 from the first quarter of last year, the report shows. Sales in the $1 million to $2 million range dropped 66 percent from the first three months of 2008. There were only 12 properties sold in the more than $5 million range between January and March from 31, a 61 percent change. The data only covers the first three months of the year “due to the time it takes from making a deal to recording the closing information,” said Desiderio. She says the numbers indicate that the Hamptons market has finally reached its bottom, and her next market report will show a much rosier picture. Meanwhile, on the rental front this season, Jonathan Miller, the president of Miller Samuel, told The Real Deal in an article in the July issue, that rental prices are off roughly 20 percent this season.  TRD