Multiple Hamptons brokers asserted that “buyers want value.”
What “value” means in a zip code that ranks amongst the most expensive in the country is a matter of some debate, but generally, it seems that brokers quantify it via three qualities: location, construction quality, and potential for flipping and turning a profit.
Location, unsurprisingly given that this is a beach destination, is about proximity to the ocean.
“That’s what people come out here for,” said Moore. “You want to be as close as you can afford.” This week, Moore listed a 5,000-square-foot house on the beach for $55 million.
Construction quality, she said, varies widely in the area. You can build something for a thousand dollars a square foot or more, she said, but you can also build it for a lot less. “The poorly slapped-together spec houses with more quantity than quality are just getting very little play.”
When it comes to the final test of value, it’s not as much about the price of the house as the perception that the buyer is getting a deal. “There are still people who are willing to do the work,” said Brenneman. “They’ll buy something, come in, and fix it up.”
Many people, though, want to “walk in with their toothbrush,” countered Brennan. “That’s one end of the spectrum, but those houses aren’t flying off the shelf.”
The houses that are? Ones that—newly renovated or not—have been heavily discounted.
“Primarily, people are buying houses that have come down in price from their initial ask by probably 25 to 50 percent,” he said. “That’s what’s selling.”
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