Community Preservation Fund Breaks January Record Following Highest Annual Total In History

The Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund has made history, once again.

In January, the program raked in $24.69 million, marking the highest monthly revenue total in the 24-year tenure of the program, following a 51.1 percent increase in last year’s record-breaking annual total —$210.64 million, the highest in the fund’s history.

Compared with last year, January’s total saw a 17.2 percent increase, up from $21.07 million in January 2021, according to a press release from New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr.

“Clearly, this reflects the supercharged real estate market across the East End,” Thiele said. “Even with low inventory available, CPF revenues continue to set records primarily driven by the high end of the luxury real estate market. This creates opportunities for our local towns to aggressively pursue its priorities for both land and water conservation in the face of historic development pressure on these resources.”

Southampton Town sales generated the most revenue — just shy of $14.6 million, a nearly 12 percent increase from $13 million in 2021 — followed by East Hampton Town at $7.3 million, a 27 percent jump from almost $5.8 million, and Southold Town at $1.6 million, a 73 percent increase from $920,000, which was the highest year-over-year increase of the five East End towns. Overall, this is the 17th consecutive month that revenues have exceeded $10 million.

“The spike in CPF revenues that began with the COVID pandemic continues unabated,” Thiele said.

Since its inception in 1999, the CPF has generated $1.835 billion, and $214.26 million of that in the last 12 months alone — pointing toward “the need for our towns to get the Community Housing Fund initiative to the ballot in 2022, as affordable housing opportunities continue to dwindle in the face of the demand for second homes,” Thiele said.

“If the housing fund had been in place in 2021, it would have generated more than $50 million to assist first-time homebuyers who live or work on the East End,” he said.