18 Wainscott Main Street

From the May issue: Back when “the Hamptons” was “the country,” a backyard used to signify potato fields and fireflies. With the march of progress, pools, Jacuzzis and tennis courts became essential outdoor features for high-end Hamptons homes. Now it’s become de rigueur to make the outside of the house nearly indistinguishable (at least in terms of comfort level) from the inside. [more]

Average and median price of a Hamptons home (Image courtesy the Corcoran Group)

If the Hamptons real estate market celebrated the end of last year with a boom — as high-end homebuyers rushed to complete deals before capital gains tax rates spiked at the start of 2013 — then the last three months must have felt like a hangover. Home sales and prices in the tony enclave plummeted in the first quarter of this year, according to reports released today by the area’s largest residential brokerages. [more]

An aerial shot of the Hamptons

The lingering effects of Hurricane Sandy dealt a blow to Hamptons residential prices, according to the most recent quarterly market report from East End brokerage Town & Country Real Estate. [more]

From left: Diane Saatchi and Judi Desiderio

From the April issue: Long Island’s East End was hit hard by the real estate downturn, but not by Hurricane Sandy, which largely bypassed the area. Thanks to that stroke of good luck — coupled with the improving economy — the popular vacation spots in the Hamptons and North Fork are now seeing a definite rebound from the post-financial crisis slump. [more]

Southampton, N.Y., and Matt Lauer

Southampton is telling “Today’s'” Matt Lauer to hold his horses, the New York Post reported.

Town officials have ordered the morning show host to stop work on a renovation under way at his 40-acre horse farm. Until getting a stop-work order in late March, Lauer was converting an office building into a residence. [more]

The Hamptons

It may still be the season for parkas and pullovers rather than shorts and flip-flops, but the Hamptons summer real estate rush is already underway, the New York Times reported.  [more]

East End sales volume by quarter (Image courtesy the Corcoran Group)

Sellers fearing capital gains tax increases and the fiscal cliff rushed to close high-end Hamptons sales late last year, leading to dramatic increases in the number of transactions and sale prices in the fourth quarter of 2012, according to reports released today by residential brokerages. The Hamptons experienced the highest average sale price in seven years, “skewed by high-end market strength,” Douglas Elliman’s report said. [more]

From left: 322 Meadow Lane and 174 Further Lane

Although oceanfront properties in the Hamptons usually command top dollar, only four of the area’s ten priciest home sales in 2012 were located on the water, according to local brokerage Town & Country Real Estate. Typically, about 80 percent of top sales are for homes bordering the ocean, ponds and bays of the East End. [more]

Judi Desiderio, CEO of Town & Country

Hamptons home sales volume saw gains in 11 of 12 markets tracked by the East End brokerage Town & Country in 2012, according to a report released today by the firm.

East Hampton Village saw the greatest gains during the year, with the number of home sales in the area jumping 47 percent from 47 total home sales in 2011 to 69 in 2013. Those sales raked in a total $362 million last year, compared to $173 million the previous year. East Hampton Village also had the greatest number of home sales over $10 million in 2012, according to the report. Ten of the 33 sales over $10 million in the Hamptons came from East Hampton Village. [more]

Josh Guberman

From the January issue: When Josh Guberman set out to market the house he’d just constructed at 78 Pheasant Close East in Southampton Village, he wasn’t content to hire a professional stager, as most developers do. Instead, he personally stocked the 1,500-bottle wine cellar with rosé and champagne, and decorated the home’s great room with orchids and trays of wheatgrass. In fact, while staging is now standard in New York City new-construction condos, it’s rare in Hamptons spec homes, explained Susan Breitenbach, the Corcoran Group senior vice president who listed 78 Pheasant Close for $8.75 million last month. [more]