Take a look at this eye-popping discrepancy, courtesy of a recent report by Douglas Elliman Real Estate…sales of existing homes in the Hamptons were down -8.7% in Q2 2019 compared to Q2 2018 while inventory rose +84.2% y/y in Q2 2019. That’s -8.7% all the way up to +84.2%!!
Granted, the Hamptons market was sluggish during the first half of this year but…
The median sales price decreased -4.2% to $850,000 in Q2 2019 compared to $887,500 in Q2 2018.
According to Todd Bourgard. The senior executive regional manager of sales for the Hamptons, “There was a big gap between what the buyers were willing to offer and the sellers were willing to accept.” Bourgard went on to say that many homes were priced slightly above market value but that prices began to come down, buyers began “…coming off the shelf.”
Volume of luxury sales were in line with “…the quarterly average for the past decade,” however, volume in the luxury tier of the market jumped a whopping +90% in Q2 2019 compared with last year.
Median sales prices for lux properties increased +3.4% to $6M compared to $5.8M at the same time last year.
The Elliman Hamptons’ report indicated that “caps on state and local tax deductions enacted last year were part of the reason for subdued (to say the least) sales and increased (to say the least) inventory.”
Bourgard said he believed that buyers were ”…getting used to the reality of the new tax law…” but that the low interest rates couple with home prices coming down, “…there was an uptick in deals during the last three weeks. Earlier this season, I’d visit our offices and there were a lot of agents there. Now, they are out selling.”
