Real Estate Market Softens

(11/10/2006)    The median price of single-family houses in East Hampton Town has continued to increase so far this year, but not as much as in years past, according to data provided by the Suffolk Research Service.

    After five years of record-level sales on the East End, it appears that the real estate market is now softening, according to George R. Simpson, the president of the research service, which is based in Hampton Bays.

    Based on market figures for the first nine months of both 2005 and 2006, the median price of a single-family house in East Hampton increased from $815,000 to $895,000. Despite this increase, the number of houses sold dropped from 683 in 2005 to 504 in 2006. Total dollar sales also decreased, from $924 million to $759 million.

    The median price of a single-family house in all five towns on the East End increased from $594,375 in 2005 to $650,000 in 2006. Over all, however, all five experienced a decrease in the number of sales, from 3,108 in 2005 to 2,456 in 2006. Total dollar sales also dropped, from $3.165 billion to $3.003 billion.

    Of the five towns on the East End, Shelter Island was the only one to experience an increase in median price, total dollar sales, and the number of houses sold from 2005 to 2006. Although the number of houses sold on Shelter Island increased by only one, from 60 to 61, the median price of a single-family house jumped from $748,000 to $915,000, and the total dollar sales of all houses sold increased from $66 million to $93 million, a five-year high.

    In comparison, the median sale price for existing single-family houses in Suffolk County increased by 0.5 percent, from $410,000 to $412,000, from September 2005 to September 2006, according to the New York State Association of Realtors.    

E.K.