Hamptons Resi Market Scrambles For Inventory

The residential market in the Hamptons is defined less by what is for sale than by what isn’t.

Inventory on Long Island’s East End has been tight since the pandemic sparked a frenzy of purchases, leaving its hamlets with a dearth of supply that has since limped along. Much of that modest inventory gain was wiped out by a banner 2025, which brought several sky-high deals, including the enclave’s first nine-figure sale since 2022.

Last quarter, listings fell 10 percent year-over-year, marking the second inventory decline in three quarters, according to a report by appraiser Jonathan Miller with data from StreetMatrix. The low supply of homes on the market pushed transactions downward, with first-quarter sales more than 16 percent lower than the decade average.

The crunch was particularly pronounced in the upper echelons of the market in the Hamptons, especially for buyers on the hunt for turnkey properties — rare commodities even in times when supply isn’t scraping the bottom of the barrel. Listings for luxury properties dropped more than 35 percent annually in the first quarter, as the number of deals declined roughly 30 percent.

“Inventory is maybe the worst I’ve seen it,” said Tyler Whitman, managing director of The Agency’s most eastern outpost. “There’s nothing nice to buy,” which, for Whitman, hasn’t been for lack of trying. “I’ve called every broker in town to see if they have stuff coming on, but they’re all saying they’re light right now.”

Inventory cycle

Whitman said one of the reasons 2025 was so successful was because several legacy properties finally changed hands, which only happens once every few generations.

Bespoke’s Cody Vichinsky echoed that conclusion, describing the market as a cycle based on roughly 300 oceanfront properties between Southampton and East Hampton typically trade once or twice in a few decades.

“The beginning of the Hamptons’ super-lux boom was after 9/11,” Vichinsky said. In 2006, sale prices rivaled even current numbers, only to fall again two years later when the Financial Crisis “slammed the brakes.”

After that, “a series of positive dominoes fell,” culminating in the pandemic-era buying spree, Vichinsky said, which sent prices skyrocketing. “The velocity of absorption went through the roof.”

Throughout that sequence of events, most of those few hundred prime waterfront properties were sold.

“Once these estates start to sell and everything gets gobbled up by a new class, magnificently more wealthy than their predecessors, they don’t sell again because they don’t have to,” Vichinsky said.

With the nation’s wealthiest only getting wealthier, “the holding power of existing owners only gets stronger,” he said, and these properties will likely only sell again if something forces their hands, such as “death, divorce or distress.”

But even when those factors exist, homeowners in the Hamptons, especially those with some of the enclave’s priciest assets, may hold on to their properties. In times of uncertainty, whether on a personal or macroeconomic level, many choose to ride it out.

“There’s no desperation,” said Compass’ Terry Cohen. “People just wait until the next thing happens.”

Prices keep climbing

While the drop in listings translated to a market slowdown, high-end deals recorded in the first quarter tell a different story.

The share of transactions above $5 million hit a record mark, and the median sale price of luxury homes rose 30 percent, to $13 million. Prices also pushed higher across all market segments, with the median sale price increasing 18 percent annually to $2.4 million.

Vichinsky described the first quarter as the Hamptons’ “strongest” in six years, with more than $560 million in sales closed at $10 million or higher, up from $523 million in 2020. Those trades include a $72 million deal for an oceanfront estate at 43 East Dune Lane, which finally sold after years on the market. The sale, which was, in part, brokered by Cohen, is the most expensive to close so far this year, though it was significantly discounted from the $120 million it once sought.

However, Vichinsky cautioned that several of these deals were “spillover from 2025” — sales that were well in the works last year, but which didn’t cross the finish line, likely due to bureaucratic or procedural holdups.

“I don’t want to overstate any kind of rush,” Vichinsky said, adding that, “Q1 this year felt more like Q4 plus.”

Aside from low inventory, uncertainty over the war with Iran and its effect on oil prices could stifle sales in the Hamptons, even as record Wall Street bonuses have armed many purchasers with cash to spend.

“About two months ago, I did an interview with CBS, and at that point, I said, I think this is going to be the best year we’ve ever had in real estate,” Douglas Elliman’s Enzo Morabito said in March, pointing to a flood of wealth heading into the South Fork in recent years.

The Hamptons is “like Disney World. It’s not like the real world,” Morabito said. “But I said at that time, the world is so weird right now, there are just a lot of things going on. God forbid someone starts a war.”

Still, brokers remain optimistic about the market’s prospects in 2026, especially for homes priced reasonably, said Corcoran’s Mala Sander, who added that scarce inventory is tightening competition for properties with realistic pricing.

“When the world is uncertain, the Hamptons is always a good place to be, financially and physically,” Sander said. “This is a good refuge.”