The Hamps, the Hamps, we’re a hell of a town
The prices are up but the sales are down
Pardon us while we burst into song. The third quarter results from the four big agencies that report are all in, and the broad results are as follows. Each report tends to focus on slightly different parts of the market, so results tend to be different from one another.
Douglas Elliman
Prices are up but properties are just sitting there. Median sales price in the third quarter of 2018 climbed 8.4 percent year over year to $965,000, but the number of sales dropped 13.3%. The biggest loser was the under $1 million market: sales dropped 21.5 percent. (Blame it on rising interest rates). As for the luxury market (the highest 10% of sales), the median price fell 3% to $5.561 million, and the number of sales slumped 13.5%.
Town & Country
T&C’s report also showed a drop in under $1 million, with 10% fewer sales than the same quarter of 2017. For the Hamptons overall, the report shows prices and total sales volume about the same as last year, with a 14% rise in median price. Standout markets in this report include Hampton Bays, with a 135% expansion in total home sales volume, nearly 30% more home sales and a 19% increase in median home sales price, to $525,000. Amagansett boasted a median home price of $5.25 million, a 159% increase. (Though we hasten to point out these numbers for Amagansett are based on 7 total sales over 3 months.)
Corcoran
Corcoran, like T&C, saw stable sales in the Hamptons, with the number of sales up just 1% to 594 sales. Average price dipped 4%, but median price increased 1%. Sales from $2-$5 million were strong, but a decrease in sales over $10 million caused the luxury sales volume to decrease 11% year-over-year. Inventory increased slightly by 4%, basically the same as last year.
Brown Harris Stevens
At BHS as with Elliman, the report shows number of sales down and median prices increased. The total number of Hamptons sales dipped 15.7% (344 in 2018 versus 408 in 2017), and the total dollar volume decreased 17.8%. The average sales price declined 2.5% while the median price increased 14.8% to $1,033,000. 77% of sales in 3Q18 were under $2 million. There were 22 sales over $5 million and 7 over $10 million. And, as with the T&C report, Amagansett saw fewer sales at higher prices, resulting in increased average prices.
