The median sale price in the Hamptons — long a playground for New York’s rich and famous — has risen above $2 million for the first time in history.
Home prices out east hit record highs in the first quarter of the year, signaling a red hot summer for the wealthy enclave’s real estate market.
The data, compiled in Miller Samuel’s quarterly report for brokerage Douglas Elliman and covered by the Real Deal, indicates a return of deep-pocketed, confident buyers to the South Fork, particularly in the region’s mid-range segment of $1 million to $5 million properties.
First-quarter sales in the Hamptons nearly doubled compared to the same quarter in 2024, growing a robust 85.5% year-over-year. Deals increased sharply over that period from 230 to 420 closed sales across the coastal community.
As for the median price, that specifically hit $2.04 million.
A record high number of sales fell into what report author Jonathan Miller called the “Hamptons Middle,” encompassing those sales between $1 million and $5 million. Nearly 54.6% of deals in the first quarter of 2025 were in this segment, compared to a 39% share of sales a year ago.
Miller told the Real Deal that he attributed the upward trend of “Hamptons Middle” sales to buyers in this price range — unlikely to buy in cash — feeling more comfortable about taking out a mortgage.
The enclave’s ultra-luxury market struggled last year, with sales plummeting by nearly $200 million. That weakness among trophy properties appears to have edged into 2025.
Luxury sales, which Miller defines at the top 10% of transactions, saw average prices dip by 11.8% year-over-year and the entry price threshold dropped 7.5%.
Listing inventory, Miller reported, has been expanding in the Hamptons for more than two years. Total inventory increased by 9.7% in the first part of 2024 — a continued increase that is reducing bidding wars.
“A couple of years ago, inventory was almost non-existent,” Miller told the Real Deal. “But demand remained in place, and it’s just enabling more sales.”
The growth spurt coincided with a banner year for Wall Street, as profits and bonuses from 2024 hit bank accounts and slaphappy bankers looked east for their vacations.
Miller said Wall Street gains are tied to gains in the Hamptons market, calling them “joined at the hip.”