By Orlando Lee Rodriguez
Call it the East End switch.
Average sale prices for residential properties in the normally high-priced Hamptons dropped while in the more affordable North Fork, prices rose over last year and quarter to quarter.
Overall, prices fell 10 percent compared with the first quarter of 2012 across the Hamptons and were down a whopping 36 percent for the quarter, according to data released by the Corcoran Group last week.
East Hampton village saw the biggest drop in prices, which were down 76 percent from last year and 78 percent from last quarter. Southampton Village also saw prices tumble, down 56 percent compared to 2012.
The North Fork residential market fared much better, actually seeing 18 percent growth in the median sales price from the first quarter of 2012.
The villages of Cutchogue, Mattituck and Laurel saw the average sale price rise by 36 percent over the quarter while the median sale price rose 24 percent in the past year.
However, sales in the luxury market, which are the top 10 percent of residential sales for the quarter, were way down as well.
The Hamptons saw a 40 percent drop in sales for the quarter and a 19 percent drop from last year. The North Fork’s luxury market did not fare too much better either, dropping around 33 percent for the quarter and 32 percent compared to 2012.
The North Fork did see an explosion in land with the average price up 156 percent in the past three months as the median price has skyrocketed 567 percent in the past year.
Inventory levels for both sections of the East End remained basically unchanged, decreasing by 1.5 percent over last year and rising 1.3 percent over the past three months according to Corcoran.
Residential brokerage Brown Harris Stevens, which released its own Hamptons report last week, gave a reason for sales being down.
“Like many markets, we experienced a surge of closings in December due to pending tax law changes,” said Cia Comnas, executive managing director of Brown Harris Stevens of the Hamptons.
Comnas said that despite the data, she sees the market as strong.
“The first quarter numbers reflect the resulting phenomenal activity we experienced at the end of 2012 and in no way indicates a slowing market,” she said.
