Demand for luxury properties drops while mid-tier homes make gains

Hamptons sellers beware. The East End saw its fourth straight double-digit sales drop in the second quarter as year-over-year sales plummeted 21 percent for a total of 561 transactions, according to a Douglas Elliman report. Jonathan Miller, the report’s author, attributed that decline to softening at the top of the market. Miller noted, however, that this slower stretch followed an extraordinary three-year period marked by a growing global appetite for luxury properties. “The pent up demand has been satiated,” Miller said. Now, he said, volatility in stock markets from Britain to China, and uncertainty about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, are contributing to slower sales. Meanwhile, the market share of residential properties valued in the $1 million-to-$5 million price range has grown on the East End in recent years. Bur experts say that stock market jitters could reverse that because buyers in that price range often rely on Wall Street bonuses and robust financial markets to make purchases. [TRD] & [TRD]