Mega Deal

Still, real estate brokers see the weakness in the Hamptons as a modest correction rather than something much worse.

"It's not something that's going to kill the market," said DeVivio.

It certainly didn't prevent hedge fund manager Scott Bommer from being able to ink a deal to sell his ocean-front property at Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton for $110 million, the New York Post reported last month, one of the few times the sale of a home has topped $100 million in the United States.

Bommer, who shut his SAB Capital in late December, bought the property - which is a combination of three addresses - for $93.9 million in 2014. The Post identified the buyer as Michael S. Smith, chief executive of natural gas company Freeport LNG.

The 6.2-acre estate includes a century-old five-bedroom home on a back lot. The ocean-front lot has an 8,000-square-foot stucco mansion with seven bedrooms, and eight full bathrooms, along with a swimming pool, said broker Ed Petrie of Compass, who declined further comment because of a confidentiality agreement.

"It's the best of the best, and people are going to pay a premium for the best of the best," said Susan Breitenbach, a top broker in the Hamptons who notched $333 million in sales last year for the Corcoran Group.

In 2014, billionaire investor Barry Rosenstein of Jana Partners paid $147 million for ocean-front property in East Hampton, a record for U.S. residential sales. The prices of luxury homes surged that year after U.S. stocks soared 30 percent the year before.

While the luxury end of the market may be softening, the overall market in the area remains solid.

When all fourth-quarter sales are included, the median sales price rose 3 percent to $1.12 million from a year earlier, according to Corcoran's figures.