A Rush at the Top: $20M+ Sales Increase as Median Home Price Slips in Third Quarter

Before the third quarter home sales report even dropped, Judi Desiderio had a feeling that she knew what it would look like.

As it turns out, she was right.

The regional vice president and partner at William Raveis predicted that the driver for this quarter was higher-priced trades, she said, noting a staggering 43-percent leap in the $10 million to $19.99 million range, and a 33-percent jump in sales $20 million and up.

But oddly, she said, the median home sales price dipped 5.5 percent, from $2,168,900 to $2,050,000 year over year. And even though the number of home sales saw a 9-percent increase — from 388 to 421 — it is still quite low for the region, she said.

“We are a luxury item. They don’t have to have what we’re selling,” Desiderio said. “They could always rent it. And when you have uncertainty in the world — geopolitically, economically, stock market-wise — it just makes people take a pause.”

The number of home sales in Montauk decreased the most, seeing a 32-percent drop from 22 to 15, along with a 20-percent dip in total home sales volume. But the median home sales price rose 4 percent to a firm $2 million, Desiderio pointed out.

“Whenever you see a median home sale price move up to levels they haven’t seen in years, then it takes a while for the market to absorb that,” she said.

Amagansett closed the same number of home sales year over year — just nine — but the median home sales price declined 26 percent, from just over $6 million to about $4.5 million.

“Amagansett had a big run,” Desiderio said. “Last year, a lot of homes — even north of the highway, not only south of the highway — were trading over $5 million, and that was a good run. There were a couple of spec houses at the very high end and, this year, there were just less of them. When we’re dealing with such a small, finite amount of data, it skews the percentages.”

East Hampton Village closed two more home sales, year over year, with a 27.6-percent climb in total home sales volume, yet the median home sales price slid 28 percent from $4.35 million to $3.15 million. In the East Hampton area, which includes Wainscott, total home sales volume sank 26 percent from $230.2 million in 2024 to $171.3 million in 2025.

That was the greatest drop, statistically, for total home sales volume in the third quarter report, Desiderio said. Last year, during the same time frame, there were three home sales ranging from $10 million to $19.99 million. This year, there were none.

“Once interest rates have a five in front of them and once the geopolitical climate comes down a little bit, and maybe the stock market takes a little bit of a plateau, I think our market will pick up,” she said.

But Southampton Village more than made up for this gap — with a whopping 173-percent rise in the number of home sales and a 424-percent spike in total home sales volume.

“It exploded,” Desiderio said. “I don’t know what happened from one year to the next, but look at it compared to all the other markets and it’s crazy. It really is.”

Two of the four third quarter sales that hit $20 million and up were in Southampton Village, as well as five ranging between $10 million and $19.99 million, as opposed to none last year.

“I think that, in my professional opinion — and I’m only doing this over 35 years — last year, it was an anomaly, because Southampton Village, East Hampton Village and the Bridgehampton markets are always the crown jewels,” Desiderio said. “So to have no sales over $10 million last year is very odd. I think that was the anomaly and this is getting it more on par with where it should be.”

Bridgehampton, which includes Water Mill and Sagaponack, logged the highest median home sales price at $4.825 million, but that price was 18 percent lower than last year’s $5.885 million.

“But still, they were the highest last year,” Desiderio said, “and they’re the highest this year.”

In Sag Harbor, the village had 11 percent more home sales year over year, but the two other metrics were slightly off. Median home sales price dipped 7 percent and total home sales volume was down 4.5 percent. The Sag Harbor area, which includes Noyac and North Haven, saw the greatest decline in median home sales price — nearly 31 percent lower than last year due to a drop in home sales in three of the four highest price categories.

But the number of home sales shot up 38 percent, which was the result of more homes selling below $3 million — last year’s median home sales price for the third quarter.

Westhampton, which includes Remsenburg, Westhampton Beach, East Quogue, Quogue and Quiogue, closed the highest number of home sales for the third quarter — 71 — which was the same year over year. Hampton Bays saw gains across the board in number of home sales, total home sales volume and median home sales price — the latter up from $880,000 to $982,500.

“West of the canal is always the highest number of home sales; that area and Hampton Bays, which everybody used to think it was affordable,” Desiderio said. “They’re about to hit $1 million as a median home sale price — but I still think it’s a bargain.”