After numerous record-breaking, pandemic-fueled, $100-million-plus mega-mansion sales, the hyped up Hamptons may have finally hit a wall.
The number of East End home sales fell to their lowest level in 14 years in the first quarter of the year, according to Douglas Elliman.
Meanwhile, the median home price saw a 7.6% decline, down to its lowest point since 2019, according to Town & Country Real Estate.
“The overall feeling is that there are buyers and that there is still demand,” says Scott Bradley, a Hamptons specialist with Saunders & Associates. “I think inventory is the leading culprit of the sluggish sales we’ve seen.”
Most of the trophy homes that traded during the pandemic remain happily occupied, leaving little for hungry buyers to choose from. And many have taken a wait-and-see approach due to soaring interest rates, a shaky stock market and the looming threat of “the R word.”
But there is some good news for fearless shoppers: Discounts. Spectacular summer homes from Quogue to Montauk are chopping prices to entice wallflowers to the dance floor.
At 335 Town Lane in Amagansett’s estate section, Alec Baldwin is asking $22.5 million for his sweet-as-can-be stunner on 10 acres.
The two-story, 10,000-square-foot, cedar-shingle modern farmhouse, with five bedrooms and five full baths, listed back in November 2022 for $29 million, before being reduced in January and again in March to its current price.
“It’s a very, very rare opportunity,” says Bradley (who is listing the home), “because you are allowed to build a second home on the property. There are very few properties that allow that in East Hampton, and it’s priced properly.”
Back on the beach, 33 Lily Pond Lane — a 7,000-square-foot, six-bedroom, eight-bathroom, oceanfront oasis in East Hampton — hit the market in the heady days of August 2021 asking $64 million.
That’s been whittled down to its current ask of $44.5 million.
Priced to move, the mansion comes with all the bells and whistles, including a pool, a six-room pool house, game rooms, a sauna, gardens, a koi pond and the only lit private tennis court in East Hampton. Hedgerow Exclusive Properties has the listing.
Bigger is better at 71 Cobb Lane in Water Mill, with over 9 acres, 17,173 square feet of living space, 13 bedrooms and 13 full baths.
Located on a private peninsula on Mecox Bay, the sprawling mansion landed on the market with a $72 million sticker in May of last year. Today, it’s seeking $59.95 million.
Make a deal and you’ll get extras like a tennis court, a tennis house, a basketball court, a saltwater gunite pool and a two-level pool house.
It’s also on the market with Hedgerow.