'Sellers Beginning To Get Real' In The Hamptons

For news about the Hampton's housing bubble, Dan's Papers is all we can get. "Here on the East End, real estate has continued to be the hot topic of conversation. The threat of the market shifting causes as much a stir as multi-million dollar sales do. It has seemed for a long time that the sky was the limit. The East End (became) saturated with brokerages and agents. When the conglomerates moved in, more buyers with more money were attracted." "However, the market has begun to level off somewhat and buyers seem to be watching for what they believe to be the end of the ever-expanding real estate bubble." "Even anxious buyers I have talked to feel they may be wise to wait just a bit longer for the prices to fall lower. Area realtors seem to all agree that the market is flattening, but that it will remain strong and values will hold. They feel that drastic reductions will not occur anytime soon." "I hear people talking about prices dropping all around, but where? If you look at what is out there, there really are no drastic reductions. Although the listings are building up, the bottom certainly is not falling out. Prices are fairly similar, for the same size home and property with whatever amenities it may offer, to what they were saying back in the spring of last year." "The difference possibly is that the bidding frenzies have died down and overpricing has for the most part come to a halt. Sellers are beginning to get real." "The White House at the pond in East Hampton is holding steady at its $50 million mark. It has been on the market for almost a year now. The Church Estate in Montauk temporarily dropped its price a few months ago to $45 million and now is back up to its original $50 million price tag. It has been for sale for years. The mammoth Three Ponds Farm, with its jaw-dropping asking price of $70 million, is still available as well."