Despite declining sales, a few mega-million-dollar sales helped boost overall Hamptons luxury prices in the first quarter of the year, according to two separate reports out Thursday.
There were 45 sales in the luxury segment—defined as the top 10% of sales—in the Hamptons during the first three months of 2018, according to a Douglas Elliman report. The figure was down 6.3% compared to the same period time last year.
However, these sales had an average price of $9.1 million, up 36% year-over-year. The median price also increased 27% to $6.6 million, according to the report.
"We had a burst in top-tier sales, with a 38% annual increase in the number of $5 million-plus sales," said Jonathan Miller, author of the Douglas Elliman report and chief executive of real estate appraisal firm Miller Samuel.
A quarterly report by The Corcoran Group, which tracks reported transactions instead of just closed sales as Douglas Elliman does, showed a similar market pattern in the Hamptons.
There were 58 luxury sales, also defined as the top 10% of the market, in the first quarter, down 21% year-over-year, according to Corcoran.
These sales averaged $8.75 million, increasing 17% from a year ago. The medial price was $6.55 million, up 27% year-over-year.
"Some big sales in the higher-end segment are driving prices upward," said Ernest Cervi, the executive managing director of The Corcoran Group East End.
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The most expensive sale last quarter was Lasata, former first lady Jackie Kennedy Onassis’s childhood summer house in East Hampton. It was sold for $24 million in January, according to Mr. Cervi and listing records.
Several factors contributed to the declining luxury sales, Mr. Cervi said. "The stock market volatility, lasting cold weather and the new tax law in the first quarter put luxury buyers in a pausing mode."