Take That, Hamptons! North Fork Feels Home Price Bounce

As the Hamptons housing market tumbled mightily in the third quarter, the North Fork's saw a mild price bounce. The North Fork median sales price was $575,000 in the third quarter, up 10 percent from last year, according to the new Miller Samuel-Douglas Elliman report.

The North Fork, home to a cluster of well-respected wineries and other tourist attractions, lacks the sandy dunes and social cachet of its southern neighbor; but the home price increase, at a time when the Hamptons' declined, could reflect a maturation of the North Fork as a second-home destination. Make no mistake, however: Despite a nearly 20 percent annual drop in the Hamptons' median sales price, to $830,000, it still dwarfed the North Fork's by $255,000.

It’s not all good news in the North Fork, however, though in this market that’s not really terribly startling. (The Miller Samuel numbers reflect deals closed in the three months ending Sept. 30, and therefore don't necessarily reflect the financial crisis.)

While North Fork home sales increased 48.5 percent from 66 in the third quarter of 2007 to 98 this year, they also declined from the quarter before by 48.1 percent. Listing inventory jumped 17.3 percent from last year to 430; and North Fork properties spent an average of 169 days on the sales market in the third quarter, up 30 percent from last year.