The Hamptons market shifted to a lower
number of sales for the fourth consecutive
quarter. The number of sales fell 20.5%
to 561 from the same period last year, but
remained 25% higher than the 450 quarterly
sales average of the past decade. Listing
inventory declined 9.9% to 1,527 from the
prior year quarter, nearly in sync with the
1,522 quarterly average for the decade.
As a result of a larger decline in sales than
supply, the pace of the market cooled. The
absorption rate, the number of months to
sell all inventory at the current rate of sales,
rose to 8.2 months from 7.2 months in the
year ago quarter…