First-Quarter Hamptons Home Sales Slide 58.4 Percent

In the first three months of 2023, the Hamptons real estate market had its least active quarter in terms of sales since 2009, though the median sales price remained well above prepandemic levels and the luxury market saw its average price rise nearly 33 percent in a year’s time.

Stubbornly low inventory has continued to restrict the number of single-family home sales on the South Fork as rising interest rates and economic uncertainty have also contributed to buyers pausing.

The number of closed home sales was 160 during the first quarter of 2023, a 58.4 percent decline from the number recorded during the same quarter a year prior, according to the Elliman Report. Meanwhile, the median sales price was $1.5 million, a 3.4 percent year-over-year increase.

The market slowdown was apparent in a few different ways besides sales volume slipping: The average number of days a home stayed on the market before selling rose 26.1 percent to 111 and the months of supply of houses on the market more than tripled, from just 5.1 months in the first quarter of 2022 to 16.2 months in the first quarter of this year.

The inventory of single-family homes was up 31.1 percent, to 864, on a year-over-year basis, but compared to the previous quarter, the inventory was down by one house as homes sales and new listings ran neck and neck. Plus, the average discount that homebuyers could expect to receive off the last listing price rose from 6 percent to 10 percent between early 2022 and early 2023.

In the luxury market, or the top 10 percent of sales, the average sales price reached $16.09 million, a 32.9 percent increase from the same quarter a year prior. The median sales price was $8.54 million, a 10.7 percent increase and right around the all-time high. The entry point for the top 10 percent rose from $4.8 million to $5.6 million.

The months of supply of homes priced at more than $5.6 million rose 128.6 percent to 60.8 months — just a tick over five years — as the inventory remained relatively stable at 365, an increase of just 3.1 percent. Average days on the market rose 50 percent to 174.