The softening ‘Hamptons middle’

REAL ESTATE • Hamptons Report

It’s easy to appreciate the poetry of last week’s NY Post headline: “Hamptons ‘middle class’ homes priced below $5M slammed in selling frenzy.” But is it true? Are low-seven-figure buyers, saddled by variable-rate bills coming due (and with diminished Wall St. bonuses to foot them) actually struggling to find buyers willing to take on inflated mortgage payments of their own? 

We’d been hearing reports of softening from shoppers in this range. To confirm, we reached out to Jonathan Miller, CEO of appraisal firm Miller Samuel and author of Elliman’s Hamptons market report (and media darling), who indeed had the receipts:

The big story in the Hamptons is that a large share of the market over $5 million pays cash, and is less impacted by mortgage rates than those in the “Hamptons middle” between $1 million and $5 million. The "middle" market share of sales fell to 37.4% from 46.2% year over year, as that section of the market relies on financing, and the spike in mortgage rates has made them a tougher sell.

Meanwhile, the luxury market (representing the top 10% of sales beginning at $4.2M) remained unusually tight, with the market share of bidding wars reaching 50%, the highest on record.

And so, with appreciation for both the Post’s poetry and Miller’s cold, hard facts, we present three Hamptons listings with notable price reductions for your Friday perusal:

→ 15 Hillside Lane (Springs, above) • 4BR/6.5BA, 4000 SF • Ask: $3.325M • Original ask: $3.825M • Broker: Dennis Gallagher, Brown Harris Stevens.

→ 236 Redwood Road (Sag Harbor) • 3BR/2BA, 2000 SF • Ask: $3.5M • Original ask: $4.495M • Broker: Susan Breitenbach, Corcoran.

→ 3 Jodys Path (Northwest Harbor) • 3BR/2BA, 1852 SF • Ask: $2.499M • Original ask: $3.495M • Broker: Rich Dec, Corcoran.