Home Sales Plummet in the Hamptons

[marmar]

Hamptons, N.Y. Home Sales Plunge 67% in First Quarter (Update1)
By Oshrat Carmiel


April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Home sales in the Hamptons, the New York oceanside communities favored by financiers and celebrities, plunged 67 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier as Wall Street job cuts and investment losses stifled demand for second homes.

Across 11 eastern Long Island towns, 96 homes sold in the three months ended March 31, marking the biggest percentage drop in at least 27 years, property broker Town & Country Real Estate said. It was the biggest percentage drop in their records, which date to 1982. In the same quarter of 2008, 287 homes sold.

“We are a luxury item, and people don’t want to spend money,” said Judi Desiderio, president of Town & Country. “I don’t think anybody was thinking about buying a second home if they’re watching the stock market fall off a cliff.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 40 percent in the year through March. Banks and securities firms have eliminated more than 180,000 jobs in the Americas, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, while mortgage-related asset writedowns and losses now top $1.29 trillion. Wall Street bonuses declined 44 percent in 2008, according to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

“We’ve always been umbilically connected to Wall Street,” said Desiderio, who estimated that 50 percent of Hamptons buyers work in the securities industry and that 70 percent of sales are bought as second homes. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601213&sid=a_IieuwSGDJo&refer=home

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Ironically, "Grey Gardens" premieres next weekend on HBO...

...a Hamptons estate you could've bought for a song 40 years ago - that is, IF you enjoyed raccoons living in your closet.;)

[monmouth]

2. I think Sally Quinn bought it for a little over 200K....n/t

[Bozita]

3. "50 percent of Hamptons buyers work in the securities industry" - kinda says it all