Even the Hamptons’ luxe real estate offerings aren’t immune to the ongoing downturn in the US housing market.
The median home sale price in the Hamptons will drop to $1.66 million in the first quarter of 2023 — a 7.6% decline from the same period a year ago, when the median home sale price was $1.8 million, according to Data released by Town & Country Real Estate This week.
According to the firm’s data, the price declines — which are occurring after Hamptons real estate hit record highs during the pandemic, as well as New Yorkers fleeing the city’s lockdown — were the first since 2019.
“Due to the highest inflation in four decades, not to mention a stock market retreat with interest rate hikes at an unprecedented pace that spooked even a seasoned investor, while geopolitical tensions escalated And a grassroots war ensued, the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades,” Town & Country CEO Judy Desiderio said in a quarterly report.
“With all those negative effects, it’s no surprise for buyers to take pause,” Desiderio said.
Economic uncertainty looms large in the first three months of the year as Wall Street digests it Failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York,
The Hampton Set also faces an ongoing slate of interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, which has made forms of debt more expensive and prompted mortgage rates to rise.
The sharpest drop in median home sale prices occurred in the Shelter Island market, where the figure fell nearly 38% to $1.61 million.
Sale prices in Amagansett and Bridgehampton each fell more than 15%.
All 12 Hamptons-area real estate markets tracked by the firm reported declines in total home sales. Overall, the number of home sales fell 44% year-over-year in the first quarter.
The number of homes sold priced between $10 million and $19.99 million declined 61%, while the number of homes sold for more than $20 million, the most expensive category tracked by data from Town & Country, declined 55% I.
Bloomberg first reported on data.
Mortgage rates have declined in recent weeks.
Still, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.32% as of last week — an increase of 1.65% from the same week a year ago.
Home prices fall in the US Sellers in many markets look to sweeten the deal for cash-strapped potential buyers.