We published our report on the Hamptons & North Fork sales market for 3Q 2012.   This is part of an evolving market report series I’ve been writing for Douglas Elliman since 1994.

Key Points

Hamptons & North Fork

-Sales increased to highest 3rd quarter total in 7 years.
-Fourth highest market share of sub-million dollar sales (69.9%) in four years as falling mortgage rates brought out first time buyers, skewing overall prices lower.
-Market share of sales above $5M fell sharply from 55.6% to 36.6% of luxury sales.
-Monthly absorption rate was at second fastest pace (10.3 months) since the credit crunch began from rising sales and falling inventory.
-Tight credit continues restrain demand but rates remain at record lows and continue to pull in buyers despite difficulty.
-Wall Street and International buyers remain active.

Here’s an excerpt from the report:

…The housing market on the eastern end of Long Island had its highest number of third quarter sales in six years, as inventory declined and buyers and sellers moved closer together on price. Housing prices were characterized as stable, as price indicators declined largely due to the shift towards smaller properties in response to falling mortgage rates. The market share of sales below $1M increased to 69.9% of all sales, up from 67.1% in the prior year quarter and above the five-year average of 66.5%. The shift towards lower-priced sales skewed overall housing prices lower; median sales price fell 9.3% from $700,000 in the same period last year to $635,000. In addition to the spike in sales below the $1M threshold, there was increased activity at the lower end of the luxury market…

You can build your own custom data tables on the market – now updated with 3Q 12 data. I’ll update the chart series soon. In the meantime you can browse our chart library.

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The Elliman Report: 3Q 2012 Hamptons & North Fork Sales [Miller Samuel] The Elliman Report: 3Q 2012 Hamptons & North Fork [Prudential Douglas Elliman] Market Chart Library [Miller Samuel] Aggregated Custom Market Data Tables [Miller Samuel]