A home in the Hamptons rented for $ 2 million for the summer as demand, according to realtors, exceeds the record low supply of homes for sale and rent.
According to the report by Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel, the number of homes offered for sale in the Hamptons fell by 41%, recording the fastest decline. The median selling price, which rose 31% to $ 1.3 million, is now 20% higher than the median selling price in Manhattan.
“I’ve never seen the Hamptons market like this – never before,” said Gary DePersia, a leading Hamptons broker for more than 25 years. “As soon as a property is offered for rent or for sale, it is immediately snapped up.”
While there is a shortage of homes for sale, supply is particularly tight in these exclusive New York beach communities. Families who fled to the Hamptons during the early days of the Covid pandemic remain and prefer to commute to New York only as needed. The boom in the stock market and the rise in asset prices have led to a wealth explosion that, according to Hamptons brokers, is unprecedented. And the lack of building supplies and land prevented builders from keeping up with demand.
A 42-acre estate in Southampton has contracted just over $ 100 million, realtors said, making it the most expensive deal in years for the Hamptons. In East Hampton, there have been recent transactions for more than $ 50 million, DePersia said.
According to Douglas Elliman and Miller Samuel, first-quarter sales in the Hamptons were the strongest in six years, indicating that the market is showing little sign of cooling.
On the rental side, realtors said that the shortage of homes for sale also led to a shortage of rents. Homeowners who have usually rented out their homes for the summer are now selling – or deciding not to rent at all, as Covid is still limited to Europe and other luxury destinations.
The rent shortage has led to rising prices, with little room for negotiation, realtors said.
According to DePersia, a house in Sagaponack that was rented for $ 90,000 last year was rented for $ 225,000 in July. On the ‘bottom’ side, homes that used to rent for $ 35,000 now go for $ 60,000.
He said he has a long list of clients who want to rent high-end homes for between $ 400,000 and $ 600,000 for the season, but there are simply not available.
“I wish I had ten of them,” he said. “I could rent them all.”
Rentals are taken as soon as a list is posted. Broker Rima Mardoyan said some wealthy clients fly in by helicopter or plane to see a property on the same day it is listed – only to find that it is rented on arrival.
“I tell people: you can not wait to decide. You have to take it right away,” she said.
According to Mardoyan and other realtors, at least one home in the Hamptons rented for $ 2 million for the summer, although the deal was done discreetly without an official listing.
“This is a whole new level of prosperity that we are seeing now, even for the Hamptons,” she said.
Harald Grant, a longtime Hamptons realtor, said he recently made an offer on behalf of a client to rent a house by the ocean for $ 2 million. He was rejected.
“I offered him $ 2 million and the owner said no,” Grant said. “Can you imagine? It’s a different world now.”
Some homeowners started exceeding prices, realtors said, asking for $ 500,000 for a mediocre home far from the water or with old interiors. Still, Mardoyan said she would not be surprised if the bidding wars now common for sales in the Hamptons began to spread to rents, with tenants competing to offer more than the asking price.
“It has not happened yet,” she said. “But I think it’s the next phase. People want to be here and they have the money.”