Get in the Game

At last week’s Express Sessions conversation in Sag Harbor, “Taking the Pulse of the Hamptons Real Estate Market,” real estate broker Enzo Morabito said he is trying not to take high-end property listings anymore, because they typically take more than two years to sell and the typical discount off the original list price is 25 percent.

A broker passing on eight-figure listings — and the commissions that come with them — sounds unbelievable, but considering that the broker could instead put the effort into successfully selling multiple listings at a more modest price, reliably and quickly, the approach makes sense.

Now, take into consideration broker Jane Holden’s experience listing an 824-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Redwood in Sag Harbor this past November — for $1.45 million. And in less than a week receiving six sealed bids, the highest at $1.65 million.

She didn’t share the story to brag but to drive home a point: Even the most modest of houses on the South Fork are unattainable for young adults from local families. As much as they would like to stay on the East End, as Holden said, even when their parents are willing to chip in $500,000 toward the down payment, there is still nothing on the market that a local working person can afford to buy.

Broker Scott Strough added that even the whisper of a one-bedroom rental home in Sag Harbor for $6,000 a month leads to calls of “We’ll take it,” sight unseen.

Members of the East End real estate community, both those on the Express Sessions panel and those in the audience at Page at 63 Main last week, agreed that the South Fork’s scarcity of affordable housing is expelling the next generation of locals and threatening the region’s character.

It was refreshing to hear agents and brokers call attention to the affordable housing crisis and suggest solutions, such as rezoning, deed-restricted homeownership and accessory dwelling units.

“You are very powerful figures here measured by the customer base that you have, the amount of money you’re transacting, the influence you’re having on banking, construction and all of the rest,” former Sag Harbor Village Mayor Jim Larocca said from the audience to the assembled real estate professionals. “I don’t see you’re terribly involved in this issue, and I would like to suggest to you as an industry that you be more active.”

Larocca is right about this. Real estate professionals are uniquely positioned to discover innovative solutions to the South Fork’s affordable housing woes, and their apparent enthusiasm for the issue should be turned into action.