The Hamptons housing market was characterized by more sales and less inventory with the continuation of the “soft at the top” theme. The number of sales rose 8% to 472 from the prior year quarter as listing inventory slipped 9.4% to 1,430. As a result of more sales and less supply, the pace of the market moved slightly faster than during the same period a year ago. The absorption rate, the number of months to sell all inventory at the current rate of sales, moved 15.7% faster to 9.1 months from 10.8 months in the year-ago quarter…