New Signed Contracts For Hamptons Home Sales Up 40 Percent In December 2020

For the seventh month in a row, the number of single-family homes in the Hamptons entering contract has increased year-over-year, according to the Elliman Report. Inked home sales contracts were up 40 percent in December 2020, compared to the same month a year prior, continuing a pandemic-driven hot streak for the region.

Contracts for homes priced at $1 million and above drove the growth in the Hamptons market in December, while the number of contracts for houses below $1 million shrunk. Contracts for homes listed at between $1 million and $2 million were up 86 percent, and between $2 million and $4 million contracts skyrocketed 125 percent. Above $10 million, December contracts went from zero in 2019 to six in 2020.

There were 153 signed contracts across all price points in December 2020, while just 89 homes came on the market. It was the second month in a row of such a pronounced gap; with the exception of September, sales contracts have outpaced new listings every month since June, when Long Island entered phase two of reopening after New York State’s shutdown and in-person house showings were permitted to resume.

Contracts outnumbered new listings in December despite the number of new-to-market homes increasing 89 percent. At the very high end of the market, things really changed in 12 months. Just two new listings for $10 million or more came on the market in December 2019, while 12 went up for sale in December 2020.

The number of contracts signed in a single month peaked in August 2020 at 278. Since then, the monthly count has declined every month — but continued to outperform 2019 on a year-over-year.

The Long Island market, exclusive of the Hamptons and the North Fork, experienced 16.5 percent year-over-year growth in December 2020. Below $300,000, single-family home contracts declined, but the numbers of contracts for homes priced above $300,000 more than made up for it. December was also the first month in a year that Long Island contracts outnumbered new listings.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, new signed contracts for co-ops and condos exceeded year-ago levels for the first time since the lockdown ended, according to the Elliman Report. For co-ops, contracts ticked up 18 percent. For condos, the rise was 6 percent.

Over the course of the pandemic, in the face of social distancing measures and given the new option to work from home, many Manhattan residents have fled the city for the East End, bolstering the Hamptons market. South Fork homes are selling at a faster pace and for more money, which, in turn, has encouraged many existing homeowners to put their houses on the market and cash in.

The urgency to move east has cooled somewhat, but for now, the market remains on an upswing and inventory is tightening for anything below $10 million.