Property prices in the East End cooled off in the first quarter of this year due to frigid weather conditions, in spite of strong numbers from the Hamptons.
According to a new report from New York-based brokerage firm Corcoran Group, the average sales price in the South Fork rose to $2.1 million, up 14 percent from the $1.83 million during the same time last year.
“Arctic-like winter conditions impacted first quarter 2015 sales activity with declines in both market-wide sales volume and closed sales versus last year as the East End came more or less to a standstill several times during the January to March 2015 period,” said Ernest Cervi, Corcoran’s Regional Senior Vice President for the East End.
The median price of properties in the East End also moved downward to $499,000, down 23 percent from the year before. The report said that the drop in the average price and the median price indicated strong sales for smaller properties.
Corcoran attributed the attractiveness of lower priced parcels to a shortage of East End listings.
For the first quarter, inventory declined by 13 percent to 953 units. This continues a slide in the number of listings in the area. The first quarter inventory represented a decline of 248 units from the previous quarter.
“Current inventory is the lowest it has been in over twenty quarters, which continues to keep upward pressure on prices and impacts the number of sales,” the report read.
While the numbers painted a grim picture for the commercial property market in the East End, the residential luxury market in the Hamptons remained strong. The average sales price of homes in the area jumped by 23 percent to $10.12 million compared to a year ago.
The median price also rose, increasing by 10 percent to $6.8 million.
The number of land market sales in the East End, which includes all vacant land regardless of zoning classifications, swung wildly between the North South Forks.
Sales in the South Fork dropped by 19 percent while the North Fork saw sales growth of 50 percent compared to the same period last year. In spite of the discrepancy, the report downplayed its effects.
“With relatively few transfers, large percentage swings are unremarkable,” the document read.
