Real Estate

Residential real estate transfers made history on the South Fork again in 2021, with record-high sales totals, record-low inventory, and a lightning-fast pace at which deals are being made. It was a frenzied year, described by industry professionals as a seller's market in which cash is king, bidding wars are common, and inventory is low.

A group of investors has purchased 2 Main Street in Sag Harbor Village, home to the K Pasa restaurant and other businesses, and is seeking to have Southampton Town purchase the building with community preservation fund money.

Robert Zecher, a real estate developer and the new owner of the building that is home to Mary's Marvelous in East Hampton Village, has a vision to transform that section of the village into an extension of the commercial core with more storefronts and apartments. 

The owner of a Water Mill house that is on the market for nearly $5 million filed a breach of contract lawsuit against renters who have refused to leave the property after their $10,000-a-month lease ended on May 31.

East Hampton Point, the luxury resort and marina on five acres of Three Mile Harbor waterfront, has been purchased for just under $18 million by an investment group led by Heath Freeman, the president of the Alden Global Capital hedge fund and a Montauk resident.

The scramble to find a refuge during the pandemic has led to surging home sales and prices, bidding wars, and an ongoing boom in the East End real estate market, according to third-quarter reports from several real estate agencies.

That the former Morpurgo house, a.k.a. the Captain John Hulbert house, hadn't been sold yet amid the pandemic was serendipitous for its owners, Max and Michelle Breskin, who, with their three children, are its first legal occupants in many years. Once a wreck, now tip-top after a major restoration completed by Breskin Development, it is on the market for just under $6.5 million.

The Hamptons Realty Group, a fixture on Main Street in Amagansett since 1984, rolled up its signature red awning and vacated the space it has long occupied this week. The firm is still very much alive and prospering, said its owner Htun Han, but the pandemic has changed the way it is doing business.

The Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund reported $45.43 million in revenues through May of this year, the highest five-month total in the fund's 22-year history. The money comes from a 2-percent transfer tax on real estate sales and provides money for land preservation, water quality improvement, and the protection of maritime heritage.

At the onset of the pandemic in early spring, a mad dash of New York City residents seeking an East End refuge led to a surge in rentals, which depleted inventory of all but the most expensive properties. Given what landlords were asking per month, people began to think, "For that money I could carry this house for a year. . . . When we hit that tipping point, the flood gates opened."

Using Airbnb is out, enlisting a savvy broker is in. Short-term bookings are out, long-term stays are in. Standard leases are out, customized ones with Covid-19 riders are in.

The Springs General Store, the historical market and gathering place on Old Stone Highway, is for sale for $2.9 million.