Source: Prudential Douglas Elliman

The residential real estate market on Long Island’s East End is looking
better, although the end of the slump is still not in sight. There were 459 homes sales in the Hamptons and North Fork together in the third quarter, a 29.3 percent leap from 355 in the same quarter of last year, and 49.5 percent more than last quarter, according to a quarterly report by Prudential Douglas Elliman (see full report after the jump). Thanks to this spike in activity, the region saw a respite from the steep price declines it’s seen for the past two years. The average sales price of a home on the East End grew 1.3 percent to $1.34 million, from $1.32 million in the third quarter of 2008, and increased 4.3 percent from the second quarter. The median price was $700,000, 4 percent less than the prior-year quarter but 2.9 percent more than the last quarter. “The worst is over,” said appraiser Jonathan Miller, CEO of Miller Samuel and the preparer of the report. “After a precipitous drop in the first couple quarters, we saw prices move sideways, and even a little uptick in the summer.” That doesn’t mean there won’t be further price declines, he said, thanks to the tenuous state of the economy and still-rising unemployment. [more]

Jonathan Miller of Miller Samuel and Gary Malin of Citi Habitats

The rental market in the third quarter saw a steep drop-off in activity
from the same period last year, according to a quarterly Manhattan
rental report by Prudential Douglas Elliman, as well as continued price
drops. The report estimated that the number of rentals deals in Manhattan has
plummeted 58.9 percent in the third quarter from the same period of
2008, though it increased 8.7 percent from the prior quarter. “We’re seeing the market remain weak and probably will remain weak
going forward in the next year,” said Jonathan Miller, the CEO of
Miller Samuel and the preparer of the report.
The report, which tracks rental data from Elliman, the Real Estate
Board of New York, the Realplus listings database and other sources,
tracked 2,346 new rentals in the third quarter, compared to 6,208 in
the third quarter of last year. Miller said the steep decline in activity is due to a “tremendous
amount of renewal activity,” as landlords work hard to keep their
tenants with concessions and rent decreases. “Landlords are being very aggressive in tenant retention,” Miller said.
“They’re negotiating, making offers of lower rent before tenants have
even asked.” [more]