Sagaponack named most expensive small town in America

It’s no surprise that East Enders possess some of the most prized real estate in the country. And Sagaponack homeowners are sitting on some of the most vaunted land of all, according to a study published last week by BusinessWeek magazine.

According to the article “The 50 Most Expensive Small Towns in America 2010,” which includes towns with populations of less than 10,000, Sagaponack is the priciest enclave in the United States. One caveat included in the research that significantly affects most villages and hamlets on the East End is the fact that it’s the seasonal second-home ownership that pushes up the price of real estate, and not necessarily the primary single-family homes of year-round residents.

Coming in at number one on the list, the median home sale price in Sagaponack, though down a little more than 4 percent from 2008, was just under $4.5 million last year. According to the information gathered by BusinessWeek for the article, the village is home to 582 taxpaying residents and the median household income there is $54,000.

On Monday morning, January 25, Sagaponack Village Mayor Don Louchheim commented on the list.
“Residents of the village of Sagaponack have made preservation of its historic bucolic character a top priority. So it’s nice to know that this has made it a very desirable place,” he said. “But it’s also a little embarrassing to discover you live on the most expensive real estate in the country.”

Water Mill, home to more than 2,000 people, is number six on the list, with a median home sale price of just over $2.2 million, even though sales in the village were still down approximately 10 percent from 2008. Median household income figures were not available for Water Mill.

Coming in at number eight on the list is Bridgehampton, with a population of nearly 1,500 and a median home sale price of a tad over $2 million. The median household income there was nearly $55,000 and prices were still down more than 6 percent from 2008.

Wainscott, number 13 on the list, actually had a 9.7-percent uptick in median home sale price of just over $1.8 million. According to the article, the population in Wainscott is more than 600 and the median household income is nearly $56,000.

The population at Fishers Island, though home to only about 300 year-rounders, swells to about 2,000 during the summer season. The median home sale price there is $1.6 million, making the Long Island Sound locale number 24 on the list. The median household income there is just under $51,000.

Other East End locales that made the list included: Quogue ($1.5 million median home sale price, down nearly 5 percent from 2008) at number 30; Northwest Harbor ($1.5 million median home sale price, up almost 7 percent) at number 32; East Hampton (over $1.3 million median home sale price, which is up a whopping 14 percent from 2008 figures) at number 42; and North Haven (over $1.2 median home sale price, down nearly 17 percent) rounding out the list at number 48.

Other locales rating high on the list include: Jupiter Island, Florida ($3.6 million median home sale price), at number two; Hunts Point, Washington ($2.9 million median home sale price), at number three; Los Altos Hills, California ($2.6 million median home
 sale price), at number four; and Fairbanks Ranch, California ($2.5 million median home sale price), at number five.