Ben Foldy tells readers of the Financial Times that in the Hamptons, an area of Long Island that serves as a vacation community for New York City’s ultra-wealthy, property sales have slowed down. He writes:
Second-quarter sales fell 12.8 per cent from 2017 levels, according to data prepared for Douglas Elliman by Miller Samuel Real Estate. The median price dropped 5.3 per cent to a $975,000, compared with $1.03m a year earlier.
The spring selling season is usually the high point of the year in the Hamptons, so the drop is stoking concerns that the resort areas of Long Island’s south shore are succumbing to the pressures depressing property activity in other parts of the US.
Rising mortgage rates are increasing costs for homebuyers of all stripes. Higher-end properties have been affected by the 2016 federal tax reform, which imposed new limits on the deductions of mortgage interest and state taxes — the latter a particular concern in high-tax New York.
“Buyers [in the Hamptons] are behaving much like we’ve seen in much of the region,” said Jonathan Miller, president at Miller Samuel. “They’re taking longer to make their decisions, pausing and waiting to see how things shake out.”
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