Douglas Heddings, president of Heddings Property Group, has defended a blog post he wrote late last month that called for overhauling the Hamptons market in an interview with Curbed. He wrote the post following his firm’s entrance into the Hamptons market earlier this year. In the blog post, titled “Hamptons Market Philosophy is Bass Ackwards,” he pointed to several problems he had identified in the market related to the collection of listings and accurate pricing. In his discussion with Curbed, Heddings said he was disappointed with the lack of constructive reaction to his post. [more]

Southampton village home sales prices have outperformed prices in all other Hamptons markets, hitting a median price of $2.995 million, according to a second-quarter, market-wide home sales report by Hamptons brokerage Town & Country released today (see report below).

For Southampton, that’s a 41 percent jump from $2.125 million in the second quarter of 2010. Of the total sales, there were six of $5 million or more compared to three such sales in second-quarter 2010. There was also a 135 percent gain in total sales volume for the town, to $144.4 million in 2011 from $61.5 million in the second quarter of 2010.

The other 10 markets monitored by Town & Country display different degrees of growth or stability. Amagansett posted a 24 percent gain in home sales and a nearly 13 percent increase in median price, to $1.875 million in the second quarter of 2011 from $1.66 million in the same period in 2010.

Westhampton experienced an 8 percent drop in home sales, to 54 from 59 home sales, but saw an increase in median price to $952,000 from $900,000.

Hamptons Bays is the only Hamptons market still struggling, according to the report. The number of home sales dropped to 34, from 36 in the second quarter of 2010. The median home sales price also dropped to $376,000 from $405,000. — Katherine Clarke
1310758066HamptonsQ2 2011 SalesReport-Site [more]

Fed up with the French Riviera, wealthy Russian buyers are descending on the Hamptons and they’re not afraid to pay the big bucks, according to the New York Post. “Russians are here big-time, and they don’t think much about dropping a million bucks to be in the Hamptons for the summer,” said one broker who has made several deals with Russian clients.

It is Russian renters, the Post said, who are setting the highest rates for summer in the East End of Long Island.

Russian billionaire bachelor Igor Sosin has rented a 12-bedroom mansion on Ox Pasture Lane in Southampton for $860,000 for July and August, sources said. The brokers were Victoria Logevisky and Erica Grossman of Prudential Douglas Elliman. [more]

Biggest east end firms chart

From the June issue: After edging past Corcoran in 2010, Prudential Douglas Elliman this year hung on to its title as the largest residential brokerage in the Hamptons. Over the past 12 months, Elliman’s total head count fell by one — giving it 319 agents. But that was still enough for the firm to maintain its position as the top residential real estate player in the Hamptons, according to The Real Deal’s annual ranking of the biggest East End firms by number of agents. (Meanwhile, the firm is facing challenges in the city. See “The trials of Douglas Elliman.”) Corcoran remained in the No. 2 spot with 312 agents, but closed the gap somewhat, with six more agents than it had at this time last year. (Corcoran executives said the company has more than that number of agents, because some do not appear on the firm’s website, which The Real Deal uses to tally head counts for all firms because it’s more up to date than state licensing filings.) [more]

Palm Beach

From the February issue: Filled with high fashion and high society, Palm Beach can seem like Manhattan but with palm trees. So it’s no surprise that New York-area real estate firms have gobbled up space there to compete for a constant stream of New Yorkers flying south to find second, third and fourth homes. Two of New York’s premier brokerages, Brown Harris Stevens and Corcoran, have operations there. Another with New York ties, Fite Shavell, formed two years ago and jumped to the top ranks of Palm Beach’s real estate world. Cofounder Wade Shavell opened the firm after helping launch Corcoran’s Palm Beach branch. He was joined by former Prudential Douglas Elliman CFO David Fite. [more]

From left: Corcoran’s Rick Hoffman and appraiser Jonathan Miller While sales activity in the East End residential market in the fourth quarter of 2010 increased, prices remained flat and inventory lagged, according to the latest report released today by the Corcoran Group. The number of sales jumped 52 percent, to 2,266 units, while sales volume climbed 53 percent, to $3.1 billion; average prices, however, rose just 1 percent, to $1.3 million, and median prices increased 6 percent to $721,000. “I think that it reflects a great increase in activity in number of home sales and the dollar value of the homes sold,” said Rick Hoffman, Corcoran’s senior regional vice president of the East End. “Houses that are selling are those that are well-priced and those that people have made reductions on.” [more]

A recent art exhibit at a Hamptons home drew 150 people, but the goal of the event — publicized to brokers through hand-delivered invitations — was to sell the house, not the artwork, and it was a success. To sell a home in a weak market, brokers are getting creative and will try almost anything, according to the Wall Street Journal. “With big empty houses for sale, people can’t help but walk through them quickly,” said Priscilla Garston, an associate broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman, who owned the Hamptons home. “Photos make them hang out and pause.” Garston used this strategy in 2007, when prices were high, but she has found that it works in tough times as well. [more]

The Water Mill mansion

A 20,000-square-foot behemoth has hit the market in Water Mill for $58.5 million. The mansion, a newly built property listed by Harald Grant, a senior vice presid [more]

Real estate pros say seasonality and market-wide corrections are to blame

From left: an East Hampton mansion that saw an 11 percent price cut to $35 million; a Water Mill property that took at 14 percent price cut to $30 million; Susan Breitenbach and Peter Turino

As the warm weather winds down, so do the prices on some of the Hamptons’ most expensive listings, while agents ther [more]

Kelli Douglas, a residential sales broker with the Corcoran Group, is proving that you don’t need a multi-million-dollar pad to enjoy the Hamptons in style. A collection of mobile homes in Montauk, called Montauk Shores, have all the amenities of condo living, residents say. Douglas’ home, complete with a view of the Montauk hills, has personalized touches, including custom-made cabinets, pine floors and a newly-tiled bathroom. “When I first saw this [development], I didn’t know what to think,” Douglas said, “but this place is so unique… It’s gated, safe and so well taken care of.” [NYDN]

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