The Hamptons
Southampton, Bridgehampton, East Hampton and the villages of the South Fork: the market in figures, where new houses rise, and how a new house on the East End is bought and sold.
The market in brief
The Hamptons are a market of houses more than buildings. Most new construction here is a single house built by a builder or developer on its own lot and sold by contract; a smaller share is condominiums and townhouses sold under an offering plan. We open here now, together with New York City and South Florida, because many of the same buyers own in all three places.
- Area
- Southampton, Water Mill, Bridgehampton, Sagaponack, East Hampton, Amagansett, Sag Harbor and Montauk, on the South Fork of Long Island
- Status
- Opening now, together with New York City and South Florida
- Median price
- $1.875 million in the third quarter of 2026, down 6.3 percent from a year earlier1
- Listings
- About 970 homes for sale, down from about 1,260 a year earlier2
- Sales
- Fewer than a year earlier for the fourth quarter in a row, held back by falling supply1
- Buyer’s taxes
- The Peconic Bay Region tax and the mansion tax, on top of the state transfer tax
Supply is the story here. Listings have fallen from a year earlier for three quarters in a row and sit well below their ten-year average for the season.1 The median fell because fewer of the quarter’s sales came from the top of the market, not because prices fell. In a market this short of houses, each finished new house is measured against very few others.
Our New York City page covers Manhattan’s new condominiums, sold under the same state rules.
Where new houses rise
Southampton and Water Mill
The village and its estate section near the ocean, and Water Mill to the east, where new houses rise on lots both south of the highway, toward the dunes, and north of it, toward the bays.
Bridgehampton and Sagaponack
Farm fields between the highway and the ocean, where many of the East End’s largest new houses stand on former farmland, at the very top of the market.
East Hampton and Amagansett
The village’s historic center and the lanes toward the ocean, and Amagansett to the east, with new houses behind the dunes and in the woods north of the highway.
Sag Harbor
A former whaling port on the bay, with a village center of older houses and a small number of newer condominiums and townhouses near the water.
Montauk
The end of the fork: ocean bluffs, Lake Montauk and the harbor, where a new house often replaces a smaller, older one on the same lot.
How a purchase works here
A new house in the Hamptons is usually sold by contract between the builder and the buyer, often before it is finished, with a deposit held in escrow until closing. A single house with no shared association needs no offering plan. A community of condominiums, townhouses or houses that share an association is different: it is sold under an offering plan the Attorney General has accepted for filing, with the same escrow and rescission rules as a Manhattan condominium.
The house closes once it has its certificate of occupancy. At closing, the buyer pays the Peconic Bay Region tax of 2 percent above an exemption, and from $1 million the state’s mansion tax of 1 percent. Our guide to buying new construction in New York covers the warranty, the exemptions and the costs at closing.
What a developer works with here
- Every town and village has its own code. Southampton and East Hampton, and the villages inside them, each set their own zoning, setbacks from wetlands and dunes, and in many places the largest house a lot can hold. Read them before the land price is set.
- Water comes first. Suffolk County requires a septic system that reduces nitrogen for new construction, which adds cost and takes room on every lot.
- The certificate of occupancy sets the closing. A house sold before it is finished closes only when it is complete and approved, so the building schedule is the sales schedule.
- A season to sell into. Most buyers look in spring and summer, so a house finished before the season meets the most buyers.
- An association means a plan. Shared roads, pools or grounds bring an offering plan and the Attorney General’s review, with its own calendar.
Costs and rules at a glance
- Peconic Bay tax
- 2 percent above an exemption in five East End towns, paid by the buyer. In East Hampton and Southampton the exemption is $400,000 for a home and falls away at $2 million or more. Since April 2023, most of the towns add a further half percent for community housing
- Mansion tax
- 1 percent from $1 million, paid by the buyer
- State transfer tax
- $2 per $500 of the price. A seller’s tax by custom, sometimes passed to the buyer in a builder’s contract
- Deposits
- Held in escrow until closing; under an offering plan, with interest credited to the buyer
- Warranty
- For a new house: one year for workmanship, two for systems, six for material defects
A house, step by step
- The land. Survey, zoning, wetland and dune setbacks, and the septic design, checked with the town or village before the price is agreed.
- Design and price. Plans, finishes and price are set against the houses a buyer will compare. Many contracts are signed before the house is finished.
- Construction. The deposit stays in escrow. Weekly reporting shows interest, viewings and offers against the plan.
- Completion. Walk-throughs, the certificate of occupancy and the closing.
- After closing. The warranty runs from the closing or first occupancy, whichever comes first.
What we do here
For builders and developers, we advise before a house or a community comes to market on pricing, plans, finishes, the buyer profile and the launch, then report on sales every Monday against the plan. For a small circle of buyers at the very top of the market, we advise on what to buy and when, on the East End, in Manhattan and in South Florida, with early access to new houses before they come to market, when we can.
Sources
- Third-quarter 2026 Hamptons sales data from a New York appraisal firm, as reported in The Real Deal, October 8, 2026 (opens in a new tab).
- The Real Deal, October 8, 2026 (opens in a new tab).
General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice. Figures are the latest we could verify from the sources above, and markets move. Review any purchase or project with a New York real estate attorney.