High-end Sales Power East End’s Resi Market

On Long Island’s East End, life is good at the top.

Deals above $5 million in the Hamptons and $2 million in the North Fork hit record numbers last quarter, according to Miller Samuel’s report for Douglas Elliman. An uptick in activity at the high-end of the market spurred another round of year-over-year increases in transactions in both hamlets Out East.

The expansion of sales at the top of the market is a “harbinger of what’s coming in 2025,” report author Jonathan Miller said. He added that these regions would likely see the “higher end fare better than the lower end,” as mortgage rates hold steady and strength in financial markets continues.

In the Hamptons, roughly 481 sales closed in the fourth quarter, up from 273 transactions in the same period in 2023 and marking a roughly 76 percent increase. The deal count finally returned to the region’s decade average after about two years of lackluster sales following the pandemic buying frenzy, Miller said.

The median sale price fell just 5 percent annually, down from $1.85 million to $1.75 million. Though the price dropped, it’s still almost double the Hamptons’ median sale price five years ago.

Inventory in the Hamptons has been “moving sideways,” Miller said. Last quarter, 1,066 homes were on the market, up just 4 percent from 1,026 properties in the same period in the previous year.

“The problem is that inventory still remains low,” Miller said and added that fewer homes hitting the market would likely “restrain” sales in the coming months. “Inventory is still determining the future sales activity of the market.”

In the North Fork, transactions rose for the sixth consecutive quarter, up 17 percent year-over-year from 120 to 140.

The hamlet’s median sale price has hovered just below $1 million for the last couple of years, and just barely fell short of the threshold last quarter, coming in at $999,999. Though it missed the benchmark, pricing in the North Fork remained at a record high.

Inventory fell sharply, down 40 percent annually. Just 84 homes were on the market, down from 137 in the fourth quarter of 2023. Miller credited the dip in inventory to the North Fork’s rising prices.

Miller was optimistic about the market in the coming months, particularly as bonus season approaches.

“Wall Street is expected to have a strong bonus season,” Miller said. “The Hamptons is joined at the hip with Wall Street in Manhattan.”