The housing market was alive and well in the Hamptons and on the North Fork during the fourth quarter, showing activity practically unseen in over two years.
Home sales in the Hamptons increased on an annual basis for the first time in 10 quarters, according to a Miller Samuel’s quarterly report for Douglas Elliman.
The story was similar on the opposite shore, as sales jumped on the North Fork on a year-over-year basis for only the second time in the last 10 quarters.
Where the two markets moved in opposing directions was on price. While pricing remained above pre-pandemic levels for the North Fork in the fourth quarter, it did decrease on an annual basis. In the Hamptons, meanwhile, pricing was more than double pre-pandemic levels, hitting record highs for the market.
The median sale price in the Hamptons last quarter was $1.85 million, while the average sale price was slightly above $4 million. Those prices represented year-over-year gains of 45.1 percent and 63.5 percent, respectively.
For the North Fork, meanwhile, the median sale price was $974,000 and the average sale price was $1.14 million.
Signs of the fourth quarter trends started emerging in a monthly snapshot released earlier this month for December. Both markets saw a long-awaited rise in home-sale contract signings, a hopeful sign after a year of sluggish activity dragged along by high mortgage rates and limited inventory.
While mortgage rates are steadying, North Fork inventory fell on an annual basis for the second consecutive three-month period in the fourth quarter. There were 3.4 months of supply in the market.
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In the Hamptons, though, listing inventory increased annually for the fourth consecutive quarter. There were 1,026 listings last quarter, an 11.3-month supply for the market.
Miller Samuel’s Jonathan Miller previously told The Real Deal that the expectation of mortgage rates to decline will leave a mark on the market.
“The uptick in activity is less about rates being currently low and more about the idea that rates will continue to fall,” he said.