Prudential Douglas Elliman Releases Hamptons & North Fork 10 Year Market Reports

---

(NEW YORK, NY) -- East End price indicators peaked in 2007 with an average sales price of $1,576,050.  Over the past decade, which included two recessions, the overall average sales price increased 256% to $1,494,472 in 2008 from $419,817 in 1999.  Median sales price also increased, up 183% over the same period, reflecting the surge in activity of luxury properties.  The median sales price was $750,000 in 2008 compared to the median sales price of $265,000 in 1999. 

The Hamptons market, on the south fork of Long Island, saw more price growth than the North Fork over the past decade.  Demand for property in the Hamptons was driven primarily from New York City, while the demand for property on the North Fork was driven primarily from buyers on Long Island.  As a result, the Hamptons saw an increase of 286.5% in average sales price to $1,762,779 in 2008 from $456,132 in 1999, while the North Fork saw an increase of 219.6% in the same metric to $837,372 in 2008 from $262,024 in 1999.  Because the availability of land is limited, the average lot size was remarkably consistent, as measured by acreage and lot dimensions of properties that sold.  The average lot size was .96 acres in 2008, consistent with the ten year average of .92 acres.

The growth in price trends in the Hamptons was largely shaped by the luxury market, defined as the highest ten percent of all transactions.  The overall average sales price and median sales price indicators in this segment were nearly identical at $315.3% and 317.7% respectively.  The average sales price of a luxury property in 2008 reached a record $6,940,130 and the median sales price reached a record $5,012,500.  The absorption rate for the luxury market in 2008 was 7 months or less than half the rate seen in the overall market.

The annual number of sales recorded was at its highest level at the beginning of the decade in 1999 with 3,640 sales.  During this period, the dotcom boom provided an additional source of demand for property from purchasers in New York City.  After the 2001 recession, the number of sales increased through 2005 when it reached 3,170 units.  Two years later, housing prices peaked, which is consistent with general real estate trends. Typically, the direction in the number of sales leads the direction of prices by twelve to eighteen months, which is what we have seen in 2008. The overall absorption rate - the number of months it would take to sell all existing inventory at the current pace of sales was 15 months in 2008, up from 86% in 2007.

The contraction of credit that began in the summer of 2007 impacted the level of sales activity in 2008, evidenced by a 31.9% decline in the number of sales to 1,659 sales from 2,436 units in 2007.  Over the same period, the number of days between contract date and closing date has expanded reflecting the more difficult credit environment.  In 2008 the average number of days between contract and closing was 91 days, up from the 59 days average of 2007 and the 71 days average of the past decade.


HAMPTONS NORTH FORK MARKET







HAMPTONS MARKET










NORTH FORK MARKET

---