A quarterly survey of residential sales in the Hamptons and the North Fork.

..Year-over-year quarterly sales activity edged 6.4% higher to 619 sales compared to the same quarter last year, yet surged 63.3% from the first quarter. The prior quarter total of 379 had been the fifth lowest quarterly total of the past decade. The lack of activity in the first quarter was related to the market concern over the potential increase in capital gains tax, causing market participants to rush to close before the end of 2010. Listing inventory increased 6.3% to 2,329 listings compared to the same period last year, as the same rate of increase occurred in the number of sales. As a result, the monthly rate of absorption-the number of months to sell all active inventory at the current pace of sales-was unchanged at 11.3 months over the same period…